Art Song: Linking Poetry and Music is a follow-up to author Carol
Kimball's bestselling Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature.
Rather than a general survey of art song literature, the new book
clearly and insightfully defines the fundamental characteristics of art
song, and the integral relationship between lyric poetry and its musical
settings. Topics covered include poetry basics for singers, exercises
for singers in working with poetry, insights into composers' musical
settings of poetry, building recital programs, performance suggestions,
and recommended literature for college and university classical voice
majors. The three appendices address further aspects of poetry,
guidelines for creating a recital program, and representative classical
voice recitals of various descriptions. Art Song: Linking Poetry and
Music is extremely useful as an "unofficial" text for college/university
vocal literature classes, as an excellent resource for singers and voice
teachers, and of interest to all those who are fascinated by the rich
legacy of the art song genre. "Kimball's book gets to the heart of why
we sing and gives us a process to follow in achieving greater
understanding of poetry and its relationship to song...Kimball asks the
right questions to direct the reader's mind toward every necessary angle
that should be explored."--American Music Teacher "With her latest book,
Kimball makes another valuable contribution to the field with an
exploration of the nature of art song...The author strikes a careful
balance between practical and aesthetic issues...The successful
performance of art song, explains Kimball, has many demands: thorough
preparation of the text and music, a collaborative kinship with the
pianist, charisma, humility, and dramatic imagination. The potential
rewards for both the performers and the audience, however, are
prodigious. 'Because individuality is our greatest asset, we actually
own every song we sing ' she writes. That ownership comes from a deep
understanding of both the poetry and music. Art Song: Linking Poetry and
Music is an outstanding guide to developing that comprehension. It is
highly recommended."--Journal of Singing
