THE RING OF WORDS: An Anthology of Song Texts

by Philip L. Miller ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 7, 1963

Lieder singers and would-be understanding auditors of the art song will be most appreciative of this little volume, which offers some 300 poems in translation drawn from the standard song repertoire. With the original to the left and the line-by-line translation to the right, rendered as close to the original in meaning and order as possible while maintaining readability, the texts are presented under the name of the poet. The musician who set the song is noted below. The main part of the book is devoted to German lieder and French melodie texts -- with Fraucnliebe und Leben, Dichterliebe, Die Schoene Muellerin, La Bonne Chanson, Trois Chansons de Bilitis among them: Chamisso, Goethe, Morike, Heyse, Baudelaire, Hugo, Leconte de Lisle, Lahor, Gautier, Verlaine and many others have readied words for Schubert, Wolf, Strauss, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Duparc, Ravel, Faure, Hahn. Italian, Russian, Scandinavian, and Spanish texts are also offered -- the sparsest selection being the Italian. Rachmaninoff, Rimski-Korsakoff; Grieg, Sibelius; Granados and deFalla are represented, by association. By no means comprehensive-- the serious student will find that it falls short in repertoire but may prove a thankfully useful approach to the most learned and most listened to lieder. A drop in the right bucket for some but a must for most music library collections.

Pub Date: June 7, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1963

Categories: NONFICTION