Recent American Art Song: A Guide (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780810859401)

Recent American Art Song: A Guide is a reference source devoted to songs with English texts by American composers, written for solo voice and piano. The book focuses exclusively on art song since 1980, a substantial period largely ignored by scholars. This is the first study to examine this repertory in detail, and many of the songs and composers are discussed in print for the first time. Keith E. Clifton has examined approximately 1000 songs by nearly 200 composers. Many songs employ musical idioms well beyond traditional classical styles, including references to jazz, musical theater, rap, and rock & roll, and several songs blur the boundaries between recital and stage works. Organized alphabetically by composer, entries contain complete biographical and bibliographical information, with major works and links to print resources and composer websites when available. In addition, Clifton provides detailed information on the vocal range, musical style, and appropriate voice type for individual songs. The book concludes with a full discography and bibliography, as well as indexes listing the works by poet, song cycle, title, voice type, and level of difficulty.

Author: Keith E. Clifton
ISBN-10: 0810859408
ISBN-13: 9780810859401
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Language: English
Published: 09/05/2008
Pages: 330
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.30w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2009

About the Author
Keith E. Clifton is associate professor of musicology at Central Michigan University.