Art Song: Linking Poetry and Music by
(Book). Art Song: Linking Poetry and Music is a follow-up to author Carol Kimball's bestselling Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature . Rather than a general survey of art song literature, the new book clearly and insightfully defines the fundamental characteristics of art song, and the integral relationship between lyric poetry and its musical settings. Topics covered include poetry basics for singers, exercises for singers in working with poetry, insights into composers' musical settings of poetry, building recital programs, performance suggestions, and recommended literature for college and university classical voice majors. The three appendices address further aspects of poetry, guidelines for creating a recital program, and representative classical voice recitals of various descriptions. Art Song: Linking Poetry and Music is extremely useful as an "unofficial" text for college/university vocal literature classes, as an excellent resource for singers and voice teachers, and of interest to all those who are fascinated by the rich legacy of the art song genre.
The Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder by
(Limelight). This new translation of the original texts of over 750 songs allows the reader to follow, line by line, the English directly opposite the German. "Will no doubt become the standard lieder-resource for the English-speaking world..." Choice
French Opera Libretti by
Word-by-word translations plus IPA pronunciation.
The Interpretation of French Song by
This is the standard work on its subject, and its author the outstanding authority. Pierre Bernac had a long and distinguished career as a singer, specializing in the French song (or mélodie) repertoire. For many years he was incomparable partnered by Francis Poulenc, one of the composers discussed in this book. M. Bernac later taught and gave master classes in Europe and the United States. He died in 1979. Among eighteen composers whose vocal works are covered in the book are Berlioz, Gounod, Duparc, Chausson, Fauré, Debussy, Satie, Ravel, as well as Poulenc and others. The greater part of each composer's output in the genre is discussed: texts of nearly 200 songs are given in French, with line-for-line verse translations by Winifred Radford, notes on pronunciation, and simple but detailed suggestion for performance and interpretation. Preceding these sections on the songs themselves are three most important chapters on performance and interpretation in vocal music, on singing in French, and on the particular problems involved in the interpretation of French mélodies. This is the book every serious singer needs--and, more and more, singers are "discovering" French song. It is also an invaluable guide for the concert-goer and record collector.
Italian Belcanto Opera Libretti by
Word-for-Word Translations with IPA pronunciation.
Lieder Line by Line by
German song in the nineteenth century offers some of the greatest pleasures available to the singer, pianist, and listener. The great German poets--Goethe, Schiller, Rückert, Eichendorff, Heine, Mörike, Hesse, and many lesser figures--inspired masterpieces by Schubert, Schumann, Beethoven, Wagner, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, and Richard Strauss. This textbook for students and performers provides the German texts of the most frequently studied and performed songs by the above group, and gives literal, word-for-word translations under each line, plus clear English prose versions of each poem. Neither is a singing version, but each contributes to the understanding and appreciation of the song. This new edition includes numerous corrections and improvements to the translations.
Master Singers: Advice from the Stage by
There is often a dichotomy between the academic approach to singing that voice students learn in the studio and what professional singers do on the operatic and concert stage. Great singers at the top of the performing profession achieve their place with much analysis and awareness of their technique, art, interpretation and stagecraft that goes far beyond academic study and develops over years of experience, exposure, and the occasional embarrassing error. Master Singers brings these insights to the student, teacher, and emerging professional singer, giving them many needed signs and signals along the road to achieving their own artistry and established career. Through interviews with some of today's most accomplished and renowned concert and operatic singers, including Stephanie Blythe, David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, Denyce Graves, Thomas Hampson, Jonas Kaufmann, Simon Keenlyside, and Ewa Podles', Master Singers provides vocalists making the transition from student to professional with indispensable advice on matters ranging from technique and its practical application for effective stage projection to the practicalities of the business of professional singing and maintaining a career to recommendations for vocal hygiene and longevity in singing.Rather than relying on a traditional one-singer-at-a-time structure, Donald George and Lucy Mauro distill answers to a range of essential, probing questions into a thematic approach, creating not a standard interview book but a true reference for emerging professional singers. An indispensable resource and reliable guide, Master Singers will find its place on the bookshelf of singers of this generation and the next.
The Schubert Song Companion by
John Reed, Schubert scholar, educator, broadcaster for the BBC, and author of Schubert: The Final Years (CH, Jul '73), has attempted to fill the lack of a "book to which the scholar or music-lover can turn in the certain expectation of finding information, not to mention illumination, about any one particular song.'' In so doing, he has compiled what is probably the definitive work on Schubert's songs. Part 1 includes information about all known songs and variants-key, Deutsch catalog number, date, author, location of autograph, publication information, and the first few bars of the melody. A new prose translation, or synopsis in the case of a very long text, is followed by the critical commentary. Users need to be aware that although the arrangement of Part 1 is alphabetical by title, these titles include initial articles. Part 2 gives brief biographies of the authors of the texts, and lists the various works set by Schubert. Numerous appendixes address various topics: the actual number of songs composed, tonality, thematic and stylistic links with other works, tempo and expression marks, etc. More comprehensive and objective than Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's Schubert's Songs: A Biographical Study (CH, Nov '77), this elegantly printed volume is an essential purchase for both academic and public libraries of all sizes. -L. Smith, University of Western Ontario
Singer and Actor: Acting Technique and the Operatic Performer by
(Amadeus). Current market forces in the performing arts, such as aging audiences, electronic media, and HD broadcasts, have changed the operatic landscape. Young opera singers entering the workforce find themselves navigating difficult and highly competitive waters. Previously ignored skill sets become assets and, in many cases, requirements in casting. But most singers graduate from college having never taken a formal acting class and knowing little about acting technique as it pertains to their craft. Singer and Actor demystifies theatrical acting technique stemming from Stanislavsky's Method of Physical Action and provides singers at all levels a roadmap with which to complete character preparation, using a clear and organized progression based on the work of Franchelle S. Dorn and exercises and examples (recitatives, arias, and ensembles). Singers (including choristers) are given the necessary tools to prepare auditions and inhabit a character from rehearsal to final performance. Singer and Actor also provides a history of acting from its beginnings to the present day, including a survey of acting techniques from Stanislavsky, Meisner, Hagen, Strasberg, Larry Moss, and others. Drawing additionally on the writings of composers and other creators of opera, the book deals with the misconception that only the singing matters in opera and includes a discussion of previous approaches to operatic acting.
Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature by
Carol Kimball's comprehensive survey of art song literature has been the principal one-volume American source on the topic. Now back in print after an absence of several years, this newly revised edition includes biographies and discussions of the work of 150 composers of various nationalities, as well as articles on styles of various schools of composition.
Your Voice: An Inside View by
Voice science and pedagogy are presented through an interactive textbook with supporting multimedia computer program, published on CD-ROM.
Libretti for individual operas and musicals can be found in the Plays section of the Academic Library.