Poetry into Song : Performance and Analysis of Lieder: Performance and Analysis of Lieder - Tapa blanda

a most important book, rich in detail, authoritative, an extradordinarily well-written and well-researched document that is certain to become a pivotal study in the field...This is an absolutely essential acquisition for anyone having anything to do with the preparation and performance of German Lieder (Journal of Singing)

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)

Deborah Stein and Robert Spillman ... not merely give aspiring singers specific ideas but also pose questions about the songs, answers to which they can think out and analyse for themselves. This is of course an intelligent and helpful method. ... sensibly written for sensible people. Poetry into song is essentially a teaching manual, but lifted above and beyond what this may suggest by the enthusiasm, sense of adventure and respect for individuality which are marks that distinguish the best of teachers. (The Musical Times, 1 July 1997)

the book proceeds in a structured and coherent manner ... a book which serious students of Lieder, whether singers or academics, will find stimulating (Martin Bussey, B J Music 14/3)

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.