Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A bass singer, especially an operatic bass.
- noun A part written for a bass instrument.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An obsolete form of
bashaw . - noun In music, the Italian word for bass.
- noun One who sings bass.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The bass or lowest part.
- noun One who sings the lowest part.
- noun The double bass, or
contrabasso . - noun (Mus.) A bass part written out continuously, while the other parts of the harmony are indicated by figures attached to the bass; continued bass.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun music A
bass singer , especially inopera . - noun music An
instrumental part written for a bassinstrument .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an adult male singer with the lowest voice
- noun the lowest adult male singing voice
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Mr. LISLEVAND: Well, this is all music based on what we call basso spinato (ph), obstinate (ph) basses.
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Ludovico Grossi, called Viadana from the place of his birth, seems to have been the first to use the term basso continuo and on the authority of Prætorius and other writers was long credited with the invention of the thing itself.
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These types of roles, and their singers, were eventually called basso buffo, and few composers were better at writing these parts than Donizetti also provided a generous number of hilarious examples.
News 2012
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Deep, rich and sonorous, it was the kind of basso profundo that ricocheted around the tile walls with stunning clarity, like the Whispering Gallery atop St. Paul's Cathedral.
family von catt 2007
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Deep, rich and sonorous, it was the kind of basso profundo that ricocheted around the tile walls with stunning clarity, like the Whispering Gallery atop St. Paul's Cathedral.
push butt 2007
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"Deep, rich and sonorous, it was the kind of basso profundo that ricocheted around the tile walls with stunning clarity, like the Whispering Gallery atop St. Paul's Cathedral." has to be the most eloquent writing on the topic I have ever read.
push butt 2007
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She’s done some interesting BL under the penname basso (no caps – trés avant-guarde); perhaps if these two do well someone will pick up Amato Amaro or Orso e Intellettuale.
Peeking at IKKI 2009
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"pictures" would probably be called basso-relievos.
Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth Lucy Aikin 1822
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There is the continuous shake, handed on from instrument to instrument, the slashing figure of the upper strings, the kind of basso ostinato, conventionally indicating the galloping of horses, and the chief melody, a mere bugle-call, altered by a change of rhythm into a thing of superb strength.
Richard Wagner Runciman, John F 1913
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There is the continuous shake, handed on from instrument to instrument, the slashing figure of the upper strings, the kind of basso ostinato, conventionally indicating the galloping of horses, and the chief melody, a mere bugle-call, altered by a change of rhythm into a thing of superb strength.
Richard Wagner Composer of Operas John F. Runciman 1891
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