A Handbook of Diction for Singers: Italian, German, French

"A major contribution to the literature on lyric diction....[It brings] new insights and approaches into well-trodden ground....An essential book for the studio of any voice teacher."--Leslie De'Ath, in the Journal of Singing "An excellent handbook, very useful for teachers and advanced singers. The author is very familiar with most students' problems and addresses important areas such as glottals in German."--Timothy Cheek, The University of Michigan "A major contribution to the literature on lyric diction....[It brings] new insights and approaches into well-trodden ground....An essential book for the studio of any voice teacher."--Leslie De'Ath, in the Journal of Singing "An excellent handbook, very useful for teachers and advanced singers. The author is very familiar with most students' problems and addresses important areas such as glottals in German."--Timothy Cheek, The University of Michigan "A major contribution to the literature on lyric diction....[It brings] new insights and approaches into well-trodden ground....An essential book for the studio of any voice teacher."--Leslie De'Ath, in the Journal of Singing "An excellent handbook, very useful for teachers and advanced singers. The author is very familiar with most students' problems and addresses important areas such as glottals in German."--Timothy Cheek, The University of Michigan "A major contribution to the literature on lyric diction....[It brings] new insights and approaches into well-trodden ground....An essential book for the studio of any voice teacher."--Leslie De'Ath, in the Journal of Singing "An excellent handbook, very useful for teachers and advanced singers. The author is very familiar with most students' problems and addresses important areas such as glottals in German."--Timothy Cheek, The University of Michigan

Written for the student whose native languge is English, this book is designed to serve as the core text for courses in Italian, German, and French diction required of all voice majors. It is also intended for voice teachers, vocal coaches, conductors, and anyone else who deals with the singing of texts in these languages. The book begins with an overview of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), then provides for each language a list of IPA symbols corresponding to its sound and explains the pronunciation of its specific sounds and sound combinations, with detailed discussion of syllabification and word structure, diacritical marks, vowel lengths, double consonants and consonant clusters, and the use of dictionaries. Illustrated with numerous musical examples and exercises, this text concentrates on the pitfalls that most affect singers.