(Fr.: ‘singing bass’).
In the Baroque era a term used to distinguish a vocal bass from an instrumental bass or basso continuo (Brossard, 1703; Walther, 1732; Rousseau, 1768). In the 19th century it came to mean a bass singer with a particularly high or light voice as distinct from a deeper, heavier bass (see Basso profondo and Basse noble). Operatic roles demanding this voice type include Max in Adam’s Le chalet (1834), Lothario in Thomas’s Mignon (1866) and Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen (1875). The Italian equivalent of this later usage is Basso cantante; see also Baritone (i) and Bass (ii).
OWEN JANDER/ELLEN T. HARRIS