 In the second half of the 20th century, there was great interest in and renewed popularity of the countertenor voice, partly due to pioneers such as Alfred Deller, as well as the increased popularity of Baroque opera and the need of male singers to replace the castrati roles in such works.Although the voice has been considered largely an early music phenomenon, there is a growing modern repertoire collection for countertenors.In polyphonic compositions of the 14th and early 15th centuries, the "contratenor" was a voice part added to the basic two-part contrapuntal texture of discant ("superius") and tenor (from the Latin "tenere" which means to hold, since this part "held" the music's melody, while the "superius" descanted upon it at a higher pitch).