Understanding French Verse: A Guide for Singers explains the formal structure of the French language and sets out the basics of French versification, using examples drawn from a wide range of well-known song settings. In clear and concise style, it explains the Alexandrine meter typically used in French-language poetry, how to distinguish different meters by counting syllables, how to identify stresses and rhyme in French verse, and ultimately, how to enhance the interpretation and enjoyment of the melodie . The book also offers valuable resources, including a brief history of French versification, detailed analysis of several poems, a glossary of technical terms, and suggestions for further reading. While other books help singers with French diction, or offer translations of French texts, no other book helps a singer understand the meaning behind what they are singing. Understanding French Verse is an essential tool for singers, accompanists, and other musicians who want to understand more about the French texts with which they are working.

This guide is aimed at singers and singing teachers interseted in the French song repertoire. In a clear and concise way, using examples from well known song settings, it sets out the basics of French versification, showing how an understanding of verse techniques can enhance the enjoyment and interpretation of the French mélodie.

Barzun, Essay on French Verse. From the author of From Dawn to Decadence.

Linguistics for Singers: An Introduction is a textbook and manual that provides singers with a foundation in linguistic features of four major singing languages—English, Italian, French, and German—and shows how these features can be used to inform vocal performance and interpretation. Going beyond the basics of lyric diction, a grounding in linguistics enables student musicians to understand language holistically and more fully comprehend the music they are learning. The comparative approach to four common languages allows readers to readily grasp similarities and apply principles across vocal repertoire. Beginning with the sounds of a language and gradually moving up through larger levels of linguistic structure, from words to full texts, the chapters illustrate concepts using real examples from art songs and opera. The clear explanations enable readers new to linguistics to connect these concepts with their own musical practice. Designed for flexible use in courses on language and singing, lyric diction, repertoire studies, and collaborative piano, this book provides a vital resource for singers, vocal instructors, and conductors.

"Scott's subtle and adventurous analysis breaks new ground in textual understanding, while his translations radically challenge established orthodoxies. As he crosses back and forth between French and English poetry, he has illuminating encounters with a wide range of poets, from Labe and Shakespeare to Auden and Jaccottet. The embodiment of gender in the sonnet; the performance of the dramatic voice; the inflexions of the self in the voice of lyric verse; the 'landscaping' of nature in the line of verse; the interventions of the translator in the peculiar lives of the prose poem and free verse; the tasks of the translator and the comparatist in a new age - these are some of the issues addressed by Clive Scott in a sequence of essays as absorbing as they are original. ""Channel Crossings"" is the recipient of the R. H. Gapper Prize for 2004. The Prize, which is judged by the Society for French Studies, recognises the best publication of its year by any French studies scholar working in the United Kingdom or Ireland. The citation noted: In his book, Clive Scott gives a subtle and adventurous account of how processes of cultural exchange have played an active and enduring role in the development of the language of poetry in French and English over a period of several centuries...Clive Scott's book was one of a number of very impressive works published in 2002. The judges' choice was made in the light of the book's originality and its likely impact on wider critical debate on the language of poetry and on questions of method and approach in comparative literature."

Singers, teachers, coaches, and conductors will appreciate French Lyric Diction: A Singer's Guide for its thorough account of the language as it is sung in opera and melodie. Often-overlooked topics are explored, including phrasal and emphatic stress, vocalic length, singing the French r, andtraditions in the setting of French poetry. Considerable attention is paid to the subject of liaison, with recommendations on how to make decisions about optional liaisons in singing. A comprehensive guide to orthography provides instruction on the pronunciation of all French spellings, includingmany optional secondary pronunciations, and accepted francise pronunciation for loanwords. Pronunciation dictionaries give transcriptions for over 10,000 names of composers, poets, artists, roles, performers, characters, and places, as well as everyday musical terms.

A selection of modern French poems with critical commentary, glossary of literary terms, biographies and bibliography.

During the 20th Century, France was home to many of the world’s greatest poets. This collection highlights some of the very best verse that came out of a country and century defined by war and liberation. Let Paul Auster guide you through some of the best poetry that 20th century France has to offer. “Indispensable . . . a book that everyone interested in modern poetry should have close to hand, a source of renewable delights and discoveries, a book that will long claim our attention . . . To my knowledge, no current anthology is as full and as deftly edited.”—Peter Brooks, The New York Times Book Review “One of the freshest and most exciting books of poetry to appear in a long while . . . Paul Auster has provided the best possible point of entry into this century's most influential body of poetry.”—Geoffrey O'Brien, The Village Voice

A ground-breaking study of the musical and literary priorities, professional practices and creative interactions that shaped one of the most adventurous artforms of the Belle Époque.

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