Solo Vocal Music Handy Guide
brief guide to finding music for solo voice.
Indexes to contents of collections
Many collections, especially those of songs, are not indexed in the computer catalog. The following reference books list individual songs and arias in collections. To find the piece you are looking for, read carefully the introductory explanations in each.
- DeCharms and Breed. Songs in Collections: An Index. Ref ML 128 .S3 D37
- Sears, Minnie. Song Index. Ref ML 128 .S3 S31 1966 [Be sure to look in both the main section and the supplement. ]
- Havlice, Patricia. Popular Song Index. Ref ML 128 .S3 H4 [Also look in the three separate supplements. ]
Printed Music
- WNCLN's Library Catalog , using TITLE or WORD search.
- Stahl, Dorothy. Selected Discography of Solo Song. Ref ML 156.4 .V7 S8
Recordings
Guides to music for performance
These guides describe and evaluate selected portions of the vocal repertoire:- Kagen, Sergius. Music for the Voice. Ref ML 128 .V7 K3
- Coffin, Berton. Singer's Repertoire. Ref ML 128 .V7 C67
- Espina, Noni. Repertoire for the Solo Voice. Ref ML 128 .S3 E8
- Espina, Noni. Vocal Solos for Christian Churches. Ref ML 128 .V7 E8 1984
- Singher, Martial. Interpretive Guide to Operatic Arias: A Handbook for Singers, Coaches, Teachers, and Students. Ref MT 892 .S5 1983
Translation of texts
- A collection of books for this purpose is found in the following two numbers: Ref. ML 54.6 and Ref. MT 892
- Translations are often included with recordings. Look for a note mentioning texts in the Appalsource record for the recording.
- Language dictionaries are shelved in the P classifications, at the end of the reference section.
Pronunciation
- Coffin, Berton, et al. Phonetic Readings of Songs and Arias. Ref MT 883 .C63
- Find general guides to pronunciation for singing in various languages by doing a SUBJECT search under the phrase "Singing diction" in WNCLN's Library Catalog .
Sources of information on poets
In the Music Library:
- The collections of song texts and translations in ML 54.6 often provide brief biographical information on poets.
- The Encyclopedia Britannica often provides biographical information for major poets in Western European languages. Britannica Online (current edition, from A.S.U. Libraries home page, Electronic Resources) or Mus. Lib. Ref. AE 5 .E363 (1956 edition)
- The few books in ML 79-ML 80 (Music and literature) may have something about selected poets.
Through the WNCLN Catalog:
- A SUBJECT search for name of composer will allow one to browse through subject listings that may cover such genres as "Songs" or "Vocal music." Items listed in those categories may include discussions of the authors of the texts that the composer set to music.
- A SUBJECT search for name of poet will list biographies and literary studies. Books in these categories will provide general background, and may also discuss the particular poem you are looking for.
At Belk Library:
- Biographies of poets and literary studies will be housed at Belk Library or may be requested from UNCA or WCU.
- Oxford Companions are usually excellent reference tools in every field. The following may be especially useful for finding more information on minor poets, who in some cases are known today more for a particular composer's setting of a text than for their current place in the literary canon. They are housed in Belk Reference:
- The Oxford Companion to English Literature
- The Oxford Companion to American Literature
- The Oxford Companion to French Literature
- The Oxford Companion to German Literature
- The Oxford Companion to Italian Literature
- The Oxford Companion to Spanish Literature
- The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
- The Oxford Companion to African American Literature
- The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
- The Oxford Companion to Twentieth Century Poetry in English