French Art Songs of the Nineteenth Century: 39 Works from Berlioz to Debussy (Dover Song Collections)

French Art Songs of the Nineteenth Century: 39 Works from Berlioz to Debussy (Dover Song Collections) by Hale, Philip. Paperback edition. ISBN: 9780486236803.

The lyric art song, in which the piano plays as large a part as the vocal melody, is one of the characteristic products of the nineteenth century. These 39 French art songs, with complete vocals and accompaniments, original words, and English singing translations, constitute a well-chosen, representative collection from the ever-popular Romantic period. Much of this material is not available elsewhere. French Art Songs includes works by the following composers: Hector Berlioz, Georges Bizet, Cécil Chaminade, Ernest Chausson, Claude Debussy (six songs), Léo Delibes, Henri Duparc, Gabriel Fauré, César Franck, Benjamin Godard, Charles Gounod, Reynaldo Hahn, Vincent dIndy, Jules Massenet, Gabriel Pierné, Camille Saint-Saëns, Ambroise Thomas, and Charles-Marie Widor. The songs range from Berliozs "Villanelle," composed about 1835, to dIndys "Lied maritime" (1896). Bizets "Pastorale," Debussys "Harmonie du soir," Delibess "Les filles de Cadiz," Faurés "Clair de lune," and Massenets "Ouvre tes yeux bleux" are just some of the well-known pieces included in this collection. Chosen by Philip Hale, an important turn-of-the-century American music critic, this superb selection of art songs provides unusual material for any performing soprano or tenor and accompanist as well as amateur singers and players. And many of the relatively simple but beautiful works in this well-edited and clearly printed edition are ideally suited for beginning voice students.