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Abstract
The act of castration was practiced from ancient times. In countries of Middle and Far East, castration was often done to provide eunuchs as guardians of the harems. In Europe and espe- cially in Italy, it was carried out to preserve the male voice unbroken into adult life. From 16* century till the end of 18th century, castrati singers dominated opera with their supernatural voices. Boys were castrated mainly before the age of 9 years and when they grew up they had feminine characteristics, such as smooth, hairless bodies, breasts, infantile penis. The training procedure to become a castrato singer was very intense and lasted up to ten years. The most common surgical technique was either to sever the spermatic cords or crush the testis with the fingers. The voice of a castrato was the outcome of a larynx the size of a child's combined with the lung volume of an adult male. The castrati singers became superstars who dominated opera, singing both male and female roles for more than 200 years. Castrated for art, the beauty, range and flexibility of their voices raised them to mythical status.
Key words -
Castrati singers, eunuchism, history of surgery, history of music.
Introduction
The practice of castration to preserve the high pitch voice of a boy is surrounded by mystery. The beginning of castrati singers in Western Europe probably came from the Church of Rome in the later 16th century. The evolution of polyphonic church music required high pitch voices. Because women were forbidden to participate in choirs, it was necessary to use substitutes of the female voice, such as children and male falsettists. This prohibition was based on the words of the Apostle St. Paul: "midier taceat in ecclesia - let your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted unto them to speak" (1 Corinthians, chapter 14, verse 34). The facts that boy voice soon changed and lacked power and the inferior, artificial quality of sound of the falsettists, soon led to the rise of castrati who rapidly became members of all the main choirs of Italy.
An additional cause for castrati appearance was the florescence of the opera in Ita- ly. The opening of public opera houses provided...