Singing Schumann: An Interpretive Guide for Performers

by Richard Miller

Overview

To restrict performance of the Schumann Lieder to the "familiar forty" is to deprive the singer and pianist of a major reservoir of superior song. Thus Singing Schumann not only takes an in-depth look at the widely performed middle and late Lieder, it also fully reconsiders the early songs. Offering the same readability and informed insights in this volume that distinguished his acclaimed On the Art of Singing (OUP 1996), Miller presents a practical manual to help singers and pianists bring Robert Schumann's Lieder to life in performance. He also provides cogent suggestions for interpretation of all of Schumann's solo and duet songs, useful pointers that are grounded in a thorough understanding of Schumann's compositional style and its full historical background.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195181975
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/28/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	9.22(w) x 6.32(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

In addition to his long and distinguished performance career, Richard Miller is internationally known for master classes in systematic vocal technique and artistic interpretation. He is Director and Professor at the Otto B. Schoepfle Vocal Arts Center at Oberlin College, and has written several books and articles.

Table of Contents

Why This Book Was Written1. Robert Schumann as Song Composer2. Performance Practices in the Schumann Lieder3. Liederkreis (Heine), Opus 244. Myrten, Opus 255. Kerner Lieder, Opus 356. Reinick Lieder, Opus 367. Rückert Lieder (Zwölf Gedichte aus "Liebesfrühling"), Opus 378. Liederkries (Eichendorff), Opus 399. Fünf Lieder (Andersen and Chamisso), Opus 4010. Frauenliebe and -leben, (Chamisso), Opus 4211. Dichterliebe (Heine), Opus 4812. Opus 45 and Opus 5713. Opus 5314. Some Other Early Lieder: Opuses 27, 30, 31, 4915. Opus 127 and Opus 14216. Opus 5117. Opus 6418. Opus 7719. Liederalbum für die Jugend, Opus 7920. Opus 83 and Opus 8721. Sechs Gesänge, Opus 89 (von der Neun), and Opus 90 (Lenau)22. Drei Gesänge (Byron), Opus 95, and Opus 9623. Lieder and Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister (Goethe), Opus 98a24. Sieben Lieder (Kulmann), Opus 104, Opus 107, and Vier Husarenlieder (Lenau), Opus 11725. Opus 119, Opus 125, and Maria Stuart Lieder, Opus 13526. Solos and Duets from the Ensemble Collections: Opuses 29, 34, 37, 43, 74, 78, 79, 101, 103, 112, 13827 Provenzalisches Lied, #4, Ballade, #7, Opus 139, and Der Contrabandiste, Opus 74, App.

Editorial Reviews

"...he provides both a closely reasoned argument...and a deeply felt diary revealing a mature, intellectual, and passionate performer's and pedagogue's life experience with Schubert's songs....An important wake-up call for students of singing and for scholars who have not explored beyond the obvious masterworks of 1840, this book is a new classic, recommended for all academic and professional collections."—Choice

"Professor Miller's knowledge of this field is staggering. . . . I marvel at the author's ability to write clearly, engagingly, and often with humor." —William McIver, Professor of Voice, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

"Singing Schumann is a strikingly brilliant and remarkably enlightening work, skillfully conceived and lovingly written. Unquestionably the most important treatise on Schumann Lieder to emerge in nearly two decades, it is a masterful blending of keen insight and strong conviction." —Gary Arvin, Professor of Vocal Coaching and Repertoire, Indiana University School of Music

"...[an] invaluable study....As a keen-eared musical and literary critic, writing confidently yet undogmatically in lithe prose, Miller will be enjoyed every bit as much by the listener...as by the performer....[a] refreshing, demanding and often compelling study."—Hilary Finch, BBC Music

From the Publisher