| Abstract |
"Scandinavian art songs are a unique expression of the cultures of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Although these three countries are distinct from one another, their languages and cultures share many similarities. Common themes found in art and literature include a love of nature, especially of the sea, feelings of longing and melancholy, the contrast between light and dark, the extremes of the northern climate, and lively folk traditions. These shared sensibilities are reflected and expressed in a tangible way through music. Scandinavian art song has faced several challenges over the years in North America, but matters have changed with the recent expansion of diction curricula to cover languages other than English, French, German, and Italian. The primary obstacle remains a lack of practical resources for the study of art songs and lyric diction of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Scandinavian Song: A Guide to Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish Repertoire and Diction remedies this problem. Unlike other sources that give at best a cursory overview of lyric diction in the Scandinavian languages, this book provides practical information, enabling teachers and students to render transcriptions of text written in these languages into the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) -- an absolute necessity for any study of repertoire. An extensive survey of available music and sample IRA transcriptions and translations, as well as a companion website with native speakers reciting selected song texts, make this book an invaluable resource for students and professors in college, university, and conservatory voice programs."--Back cover. |
