The Castrati - 100000 Boys Castrated to Preserve Their Voice

A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.

Castration before puberty (or in its early stages) prevents a boy's larynx from being transformed by the normal physiological events of puberty. As a result, the vocal range of prepubescence (shared by both sexes) is largely retained, and the voice develops into adulthood in a unique way. As the castrato's body grew, his lack of testosterone meant that his epiphyses (bone-joints) did not harden in the normal manner. Thus the limbs of the castrati often grew unusually long, as did the bones of their ribs. This, combined with intensive training, gave them unrivalled lung-power and breath capacity. Operating through small, child-sized vocal cords, their voices were also extraordinarily flexible, and quite different from the equivalent adult female voice, as well as higher vocal ranges of the uncastrated adult male.

-Wikipedia
Deanosays...

Brilliant, far more interesting than I think this initially appears. The explanation at 11 minutes of castration methods was very uncomfortable

Haven't watched it all but worthy of a promote when I have a powerpoint.

[edit] Having finished this I can say it's a deeply engaging documentary on an intriguing period of history.

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