baritone, n. and a.
(ˈbærɪtəʊn)
Forms: 7 bariton, barritone, 9– baritone, baryton, 8–9 barytone.
[a. F. barytone, or It. baritono, ad. Gr. βαρύτονος deep-sounding, f. βαρύ-ς heavy, deep + τόνος pitch, tone.]
A. n.
1. The male voice of compass intermediate between tenor and bass, ranging from lower A in the bass clef to lower F in the treble clef.
| 1609 Douland Ornithop. Microl. 84 Of the Baritone. The Bassus..is the lowest part of each Song. Or it is an Harmony to be sung with a deepe voyce, which is called Baritonus. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede 1 The strong barytone..which was heard above the sound of plane and hammer, singing—Awake, my soul. |
| fig. 1870 Lowell Among my Bks. ii. 240 Harmonies..deep and eternal, like the undying barytone of the sea. |
2. A singer possessing a baritone voice.
| 1821 Byron Juan iv. lxxxix, Our baritone..A pretty lad, but bursting with conceit. 1878 Grove Dict. Music I. 127 Offered him an engagement as principal barytone. |
3. A musical instrument of deep sound:
† a. a kind of bass viol now obsolete;
b. see
quot. 1880;
c. a baritone saxophone.
| 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2088/4 Some performance upon the Barritone. c 1790 Haydn (title) Concertos for baryton with accompaniment of two violins and bass. 1880 Grove Dict. Mus. I. 139 Baritone, the name usually applied to the smaller bass saxhorn in B♭ or C. 1952 B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz (1958) vi. 52 The scoring of two altos, two tenors, and a baritone in the present-day dance band. |
B. adj. a. Of the voice: Having a compass intermediate between bass and tenor.
b. Of music: Suited for a baritone voice.
c. Of a singer: Possessing a baritone voice.
| 1729 Swift Corr. (1841) II. 628, I recommend one Mr. Mason..a barytone voice, for the vacancy. 1861 Sat. Rev. 16 Dec. 611 The present fashion of writing at the extreme end of the baritone register. 1871 Palgrave Lyr. Poems 50 And the deep rich oily Te Deum By the barytone canon sung. |
d. Of an instrument: occurring in a ‘family’ of instruments between the tenor and the bass. So
baritone horn, (
a)
= A. 3 b; (
b)
U.S., a baritone saxophone.
| 1876 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms 385/2 s.v. Saxophones, Brass wind instruments, the invention of M. Sax... They are six in number, the high, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass. 1883 Grove Dict. Mus. III. 233/2 It [sc. the saxophone] is made in a number of sizes..the contralto in F and E♭; the barytone in C and E♭; the bass in F and E♭, [etc.]. Ibid., Those most used are the contralto and barytone varieties [of saxophone]. 1926 Whiteman & McBride Jazz ix. 193 One baritone saxophone is equal in sonorousness to a section of nine or ten cellos. 1938 Oxf. Compan. Mus. 626/2 Heckelphone, baritone oboe, basset oboe. 1949 L. Feather Inside Be-Bop ii. 11 He played baritone horn in the school band. |
Hence
ˈbaritonist, a baritone-saxophone player.
| 1958 K. Goodwin in P. Gammond Decca Bk. of Jazz xiii. 157 He has..transferred his..technique..to the baritone-saxophone, and..rates as the most important baritonist on the coast. |