In the first medieval polyphony, the contratenor was a part added to tenor, deriving its meaning from the Latin contra. Around the middle of the fifteenth century, with the spread of four-voice polyphonic writing, the counterweight was higher (contratenor altus), or lower (contratenor bassus) than tenor, but still lower than the discantus. Today's contralto, as well as the bass, derive the etymology of the term from this ancient practice.

The term countertenor, commonly used today to indicate male performers who are in the counter-log, and which are therefore more contradictory, is a translation of English; in England it is being used modernly as countertenor (translating the Latin contra in counter) by the contralto man, following the dissemination of the British performers of which Alfred Deller was the prominent exponent, imposing itself as a model internationally since the second half of the 20th century . Bibliografiamodifica wikitesto

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