Vocal Music Resource Guide
Research Guides
Vocal Music Resource Guide
Dictionaries
[Note: For a list of encyclopedias that have articles about singing and singers, please see the Biographical Resources section of this resource guide.]
American Academy of Teachers of Singing.
Terminology in the Field of Singing.
[MUSIC ML 108.A5 T5]
Reid, Cornelius.
A Dictionary of Vocal Terminology: an Analysis.
[MUSIC REF.ML 102.V6 R4 1983]
Comprehensive Bibliographies on Singing and Accompanying
McTyre, Ruthann Boles.
Library resources for singers, coaches, and accompanists: an annotated bibliography, 1970-1997.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.V7 M45 1998]
Translations and Texts of Lyrics:
Coffin, Berton, et al.
Word-by-word Translations of Songs & Arias.
[MUSIC REF. ML 54.6 .W65]
Gerhart, Martha.
Italian song texts from the 17th century.
[MUSIC REF. ML 54.6 .I83 v.1]
LeVan, Timothy.
Masters of the French art song: translations of the complete songs of Chausson, Debussy, Duparc, Faure & Ravel.
[MUSIC REF. ML54.6 .M33 1991]
LeVan, Timothy.
Masters of the Italian art song: word-by-word and poetic translations of the complete songs for voice and piano.
CONTENTS: Bellini-Donaudy-Donizetti-Puccini-Rossini-Tosti-Verdi.
[MUSIC REF ML54.6 .M34 1990]
Miller, Phillip L.
The Ring of Words: an Anthology of Song Texts.
[MUSIC REF ML 54.6 .M5 R5 1973]
Paquin, Marie-Therese.
Dix Cycles de Lieder = Ten Cycles of Lieder Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, Schubert, Schumann:
traducition mot a mot, accent tonique.
[MUSIC ML 54.6 .D59]
Phillips, Lois.
Lieder Line by Line and Word for Word.
[MUSIC REF ML 54.6 .P55 L5 1996]
Prawer, S.S., ed.
The Penguin Book of Lieder.
[MUSIC REF ML 54.6 .P75 P5]
Schubert, Franz.
The Complete Song Texts: texts of Lieder and Italian Songs.
[MUSIC REF ML 54.6 .S39 W53 1992]
Schumann's complete song texts.
[MUSIC REF. ML 54.6 .S387 G52 2002]
Stokes, Richard.
The Book of Lieder: the original texts of over 1000 songs.
[MUSIC REF. ML 54.6 .B775 2005]
Tchaikovsky, Peter.
Tchaikovsky's complete songs: a companion with texts and translations.
[MUSIC ML 54.6 .T24 S9 2001 + Doug. Circ. COMPACT DISC CX9354]
The Lied and Art Song Texts Page (An Archive of Classical Vocal Texts - on the web at http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/
Pronunciation of Lyrics, using the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)
Challis, Natalia, trans.
The Singer's Rachmaninoff.
NOTES: Includes original Russian texts, with pronunciations in the International Phonetic alphabet, and English translations.
[MUSIC ML54.6 .R18 S52 1989]
Cheek, Timothy.
Singing in Czech: a guide to Czech lyric diction and vocal repertoire.
Includes a compact disc with examples of pronunciation.
[MUSIC REF. MT883 .C44 2001 and DOUG. CIRC. COMPACT DISC CX8412]
Coffin, Berton.
Coffin's overtones of bel canto: phonetic basis of artistic singing: with 100 chromatic vowel-chart exercises.
[MUSIC MT883 .C6]
Coffin, Berton.
Phonetic readings of songs and arias. 2nd ed.
[MUSIC REF. MT883 .P5 1982]
Ellingboe, Bradley, trans.
Forty-five songs of Edvard Grieg.
NOTES: "Containing the melody lines (piano acc. not included) with the international phonetic alphabet spelling and word-for-word translations of the Norwegian texts, English singing translations...
[MUSIC M1620 .G84 E42 1988]
Leyerle, Anne L. and William D. Leyerle.
French diction songs, from the 17th to the 20th centuries.2nd ed., rev. and corr.
NOTES: French words, with IPA spelling, and literal English translations.
[MUSIC M1619 .F849 1990]
Magner, Candace A.
Phonetic readings of Brahms lieder.
[MUSIC MT883 .M23 1987]
Magner, Candace A.
Phonetic readings of Schubert lieder.
[MUSIC REF. MT883 .M25 1994]
Reinhard, Thilo, trans.
The singer's Schumann.
NOTES: Complete songs of Schumann rendered into IPA and word-for-word translations.
[MUSIC ML54.6 .S4 R413 1989]
Rohinsky, Marie-Claire.
The singer's Debussy.
NOTES: Includes original French texts, with pronunciations in the IPA, and English translations.
[MUSIC ML54.6 .D42 R62 1987]
Sobrer, Josep Miquel and Edmon Colomer, eds.
The Singer's anthology of 20th century Spanish songs.
NOTES: Complete song texts of Enrique Granados, Manuel de Falla, and Frederic Mompou.
Includes texts in the original languages, with pronunciations in the IPA and English translations.
[MUSIC ML54.6 .S563 1987]
Wall, Joan.
Diction for Singers: a Concise Reference for English, Italian, Latin, German, French, and Spanish pronunciation.
[MUSIC REF MT 872 .D43 1990]
Wall, Joan.
International phonetic alphabet for singers: a manual for English and foreign language diction.
[MUSIC REF. MT872 .W187 1989]
Opera Libretti in IPA
Search the Music Reference shelves under ML48 and ML49 for collections of opera libretti by nationality or composer.
Program Note Sources:
Vocal Biographical Resources
Note: For a more comprehensive guide to biography resources, see Biographical Resources, a general listings of resources in the UO Libraries, at http://library.uoregon.edu/music/researchguides/resources.html
Encyclopedias:
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd ed.
MUSIC REF. ML100 .N48 2001 (29 volumes)
Also available on the web to UO users at:
http://www.grovemusic.com/index.html
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
London: Macmillan Publishers; Washington, D.C.: Grove's Dictionaries of Music, 1980. 20 v.
[MUSIC REF. ML 100 .N 48]
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.
London: Macmillan; NY: Grove's Dictionaries of Music, 1992. 4 v.
[Of special interest are plots of operas, and lists of arias with their parent opera]
[MUSIC REF. ML 102 .O6 N5 1992b + available on the web to UO users as part of the on-line New Grove at http://www.grovemusic.com/index.html]
General Indexes to Biographical information and Resources
Biography and Genealogy Master Index
An on-line resource that traces biographical information in reference sources across disciplines. The perfect place to look if you can't find your person in any other source.
Other Resources
Composers' Information for Program Notes
In general, browse the ML410 call numbers on the shelves for biographical information about composers, arranged by their last names, and the MT 145 section, alphabetically by the composer, for books on their songs and how to perform them. Some examples of these include:
Reed, John.
The Schubert Song Companion.
[MUSIC ML 410 .S3 R265 1985b]
Sams, Eric.
The Songs of Johannes Brahms.
[MUSIC MT121.B73 S36 2000]
Sams, Eric.
The Songs of Robert Schumann.
[MUSIC MT 145 .S38 S3]
Sams, Eric.
The Songs of Hugo Wolf. 2nd ed.
[MUSIC MT 145 .W6 S3 1983]
Finding Books about Composers/Performers in the catalog
- Look under the person's last name under SUBJECT in the UO Local Catalog.
- Browse in the ML 410's in the Music Services Dept (for individual biographies of composers); in the ML 420's (for individual biographies of performers.)
- Use the subject heading of that group (composers, singers, pianists, etc.) and add -Biography or -Bio Bibliography. (This is especially useful when we don't have a complete biography on one specific person.)
- Essay and General Literature [KNIGHT AI 3 .E75] will index parts of book-length biographies on musicians. Look under the person's last name in the index, then check the UO Library's catalog to see if the UO owns the book.
It is available on the UO Library's web by going to Articles, Databases & Indexes, then typing in the title of the index.
Articles about composers/performers/ singing styles:
Music Index (1976 - present)
This is perhaps the most useful resource for finding articles on people. Earlier years (1949 - 1990)are located in the Music Reference shelves, under ML118 .M84.
Look under the person's last name as the SUBJECT of the article.
RILM
An international index that includes journals on music subjects from other disciplines' perspectives, available on the web under the Articles, Databases & Indexes site.
Academic Search Premiere
A general index that includes a lot of music journals-and provides the articles online. Try using terms such as Singers, Singing, names of specific composers and performers, etc.
Journals and Newsletters of Interest to Singers:
Note: To find out what versions we may have of these journals (as many are also available as online sources), search the Journal Titles (FindText) site from the left-hand side of the UO Library's main web page. Type the name of the journal you are seeking in the opening provided- or browse the journals by the first letter of their title.
The Bulletin: official organ of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Continued in 1962 by: NATS bulletin.
Classical singer. (Previously known as the New York Opera Newsletter)
"The networking tool for singers."
[MUSIC ML 3795 .N43]
Journal of Singing. (Previously known as the NATS journal)
[MUSIC ML27 .U5 N2652]
The NATS bulletin: the official magazine of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Continued by: The NATS journal.
The NATS journal.
Continued in by: The Journal of Singing.
Journal of research in singing.
Official publication of the International Association for Experimental Research in Singing.
[MUSIC ML1 .J868 v.1-5 1977-82; v.6-10 1982-87]
Journal of voice: official journal of the Voice Foundation.
[KNIGHT QP 306 .J68]
New York Opera Newsletter.
[MUSIC ML3795 .N43]
Continued by Classical Singer
Opera Resources
Annals of the Metropolitan Opera: The Complete Chronicle of Performances and Artists. 2 vols.
[MUSIC REF ML 1711.8 .N3 M38 1989]
Directory of American and Foreign Contemporary Operas and American Opera Premieres, 1967 - 1975.
[MUSIC REF ML 128 .O4 D547]
Kobbe, Gustav.
Kobbe's Complete Opera Book. 10th ed.
[MUSIC REF MT 95 .K52 1987b]
Lubbock, Mark H.
Complete Book of Light Opera.
[MUSIC REF MT 95 .L85 1963]
The Metropolitan Opera Stories of the Great Operas.
[MUSIC REF MT 95 .M49 1984]
Rieck, Waldemar.
Opera Plots, an Index to the Stories of Operas, Operettas, etc., from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century.
[MUSIC REF ML 128 .L4 R4]
Studwell, William.
Opera Plot Index: a guide to locating plots and descriptions of operas, operettas, and other works of the musical theater, and associated materials.
[MUSIC REF ML 128 .O4 S8 1989]
Wallace, Mary E.
Opera Scenes for Class and Stage.
[MUSIC REF MT 955 .W24]
[Note: the New Grove Dictionary of Opera includes the plots and characters of operas under the title of the opera.]
Journals on Opera and Opera Opportunities
Reminder: To find out what versions we may have of these journals (as many are also available as online sources), search the Journal Titles (FindText) site from the left-hand side of the UO Library's main web page. Type the name of the journal you are seeking in the opening provided- or browse the journals by the first letter of their title.
Cambridge opera journal.
Also available online, from 2000 to present.
[MUSIC ML 1699 .C35]
Opera.
[MUSIC ML 5 .O66]
Opera news.
[MUSIC ML 1 .O5]
The Opera quarterly.
The on-line versions of this quarterly are available through the UO Library's web site.
[MUSIC ML 1699 .O65 ]
Web Sites on Opera and Opera Composers
- The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
Available at http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/ - Met History
Available at http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/ - OperaGlass
Available at http://opera.stanford.edu/
How To Find Music In Print: A List Of Resources
This resource is available at http://library.uoregon.edu/music/researchguides/musinprintguide.html
Finding Songs in Collections
Click on the UO Library's Song guide, at http://library.uoregon.edu/music/researchguides/songs.html to get a list of resources for finding individual songs.
Finding Recordings in the UO Library
To find recordings in the UO Local Catalog, search the name of the composer or of the performer under author.
As a UO student, you also have access to our Audio Resources Online, which includes the Classical Music Library, providing access by performer, composer and instrument; the Database of American Music, which includes contemporary composers' works, as well as historical American Music; and the Smithsonian Global Sound, which includes music from all over the planet, including harp music from all the countries that have a form of this instrument.
To access these resources at home, you must be a UO faculty, staff or student, and have your computer configured to be identified as a UO patron.
Naming that Tune (Identifying Opera and Song Tunes)
The following resources help you identify opera and song tunes.
You can also use the Grove Music Online to identify aria titles from operas. To get to the Grove Online, search Title (Grove Music Online) in the UO Library's catalog, and click on the connect to UO's copy of Grove Music to get into the source.
-
- Barlow, Harold and Morgenstern, Sam.
A Dictionary of Opera and Song Themes.
[MUSIC REF ML 128 .V7 B3 1976] - Themefinder, on the web at http://www.themefinder.org/
- Barlow, Harold and Morgenstern, Sam.
Web Sites for Singers
- The Aria Database (Searchable arias, with MIDI files, etc.) at http://www.aria-database.com/
- International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians at http://www.icsom.org/
- Northwest Opera Schedules at http://www.scn.org/nwopera/
- Opera America at http://www.operaamerica.org/
- Opera News Online (You can visit the site-but need to subscribe for longer viewing)
Other Resources for Musicians
