Synopses & Reviews
Focusing on the music of the great song composers--Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, and Strauss--Poetry Into Song offers a systematic introduction to the performance and analysis of Lieder . Part I, "The Language of Poetry," provides chapters on the themes and imagery of German Romanticism and the methods of analysis for German Romantic poetry. Part II, "The Language of the Performer," deals with issues of concern to performers: texture, temporality, articulation, and interpretation of notation and unusual rhythm accents and stresses. Part III provides clearly defined analytical procedures for each of four main chapters on harmony and tonality, melody and motive, rhythm and meter, and form. The concluding chapter compares different settings of the same text, and the volume ends with several appendices that offer text translations, over 40 pages of less accessible song scores, a glossary of technical terms, and a substantial bibliography. Directed toward students in both voice and theory, and toward all singers, the authors establish a framework for the analysis of song based on a process of performing, listening, and analyzing, designed to give the reader a new understanding of the reciprocal interaction between performance and analysis. Emphasizing the masterworks, the book features numerous poetic texts, as well as a core repertory of songs. Examples throughout the text demonstrate points, while end of chapter questions reinforce concepts and provide opportunities for directed analysis. While there are a variety of books on Lieder and on German Romantic poetry, none combines performance, musical analysis, textual analysis, and the interrelation between poetry and music in the systematic, thorough way of Poetry Into Song.
Review
"At last! A comprehensive, systematic text about lieder that is couched in analytical poetic and musical language!...This is an important, carefully notated book."--Choice
"More than a compendium of analytical concepts, this is a book that enables you to shape individual interpretations through personal encounter with a lively train of provocative questions and creative experiments."--Elly Ameling
"Stein, a music theorist and Spillman, an active accompanist, have merged their two strengths, the result of which is a pioneering study....it will surely engage not only the singer and pianist, but also the theorist, historian, and anyone else interested in the nineteenth century Lieder. In addition, it will likely become a major resource for teachers and students of vocal literature and pedagogy."--Integral
About the Author
Deborah Stein is Professor of Music Theory, New England Conservatory and author,
Hugo Wolf's Lieder and Extensions of Tonality (Rochester, 1985) and editor,
Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis (OUP, 2004).
Robert Spillman is Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado at Boulder, College of Music and author, Sightreading at the Keyboard (Schirmer, 1990) and Art of Accompanying: Master Lessons from the Repertoire (Schirmer, 1985)
Table of Contents
Foreword - Elly Ameling and Max Deen Larsen
Introduction
Part I: The Language of Poetry
1. Introduction to German Romanticism
2. Devices and Delights in Poetry
Part II: The Language of the Performer
3. Texture
4. Temporality
5. Elements of Interpretation
Part III: The Language of Music
6. Harmony and Tonality
7. Melody and Motive
8. Rhythm and Meter
9. Form in the German Lied
10. Different Settings of a Single Text: Comparison of Compositional Style
Postlude
Notes
Appendix I: Text Translations
Appendix II: Glossary: Terminology for Poetry, Performance, Analysis
Appendix III: Selected Bibliography
Appendix IV: Repertory by Chapter
Appendix V: Scores Not Readily Available
Index