Art Song in the United States, 1759-2011

This fourth edition of Art Song in the United States, 1759–2011 covers songs for solo voice and piano by American composers from the mid-18th through the early 21st centuries. The book is structured as an annotated bibliography with approximately 2,850 numbered entries listed alphabetically by composer and title and indexed in various ways to help teachers and singers locate the particular song they require for practice or performance.

This edition adds eleven years’ worth of new works, anthologies, and collections (about 450 new entries), reflecting the relatively recent outpouring of song compositions by American composers and a wealth of new song anthologies and collections. This bibliography features information on each song or song cycle or set. Users will find critical data on the poet, publisher and copyright date, key, vocal range, vocal tessitura, meter(s), tempo, length, difficulty of vocal line and piano score, most suitable voice type, mood and subject of the text, and brief description of the vocal line and piano score. It also includes commentary on special difficulties for performers and possible uses of the song in programming. In addition, individual titles of composite works are given, and those that appear in collections are indexed to the list of collections in the front matter. Composer, poet, special characteristics/subject, and title indexes—and even discographic lists recordings where available—all aid researchers in finding songs.

The primary audiences for this bibliography are voice teachers and singers in search of appropriate art songs for their students or themselves, as well as libraries with collecting interests in music and American literature.

Judith E. Carman holds the B.M. and M.M. degrees (Peabody College) in vocal performance with minors in piano and languages, the D.M.A. in vocal performance and pedagogy (University of Iowa), and has taught singing and related subjects at the university level and in the private studio for 40 years. She writes the Music Review column for the Journal of Singing and has given numerous presentations of American art song.

William K. Gaeddert, Professor Emeritus, Baker University, is retired after 45 years of teaching singing at the high school and university levels and in his private studio. He holds the M.F.A in vocal performance and the Ph.D. in Music Literature (University of Iowa), with research interests in the songs of Robert Franz as well as the art song of the United States, and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Rita M. Resch, Professor Emerita of Music, University of Central Missouri, has taught singing, piano accompanying, and related subjects for more than 30 years. She holds the D.M.A. in piano accompanying and chamber music and the M.F.A. in vocal performance (University of Iowa), an M.A. in English and American Literature (University of North Dakota), and an M.M. in Music Literature (Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester).