Art song

An art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs.

Although categorizing a piece of vocal music as art song rather than as another type of song (such as a folk song, or an aria) can sometimes be difficult, most art songs are

settings of lyric poetry
not part of a staged work (such as an opera or a musical)
intended for performance as part of a recital or other relatively formal social occasion

Exceptions can be found to any of these rules. Although piano accompaniment is usual, the singer may be accompanied by instrumental forces of any number, including a full orchestra. A guitar, a harp or a string quartet are some of the more common accompaniments. Songs may be written to be performed in a group to form a narrative or dramatic whole, comprising a song cycle.

A folk song can form the basis of an art song, but a composer must reinvent it with respect to one or more of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or sonority.^{[citation needed]} Aaron Copland and Benjamin Britten are two composers famous for their arrangements of respective American and British folk songs.

An art song can be in any language, although English songs, French chansons or mélodies, German Lieder, Spanish canciones, canciones líricas, and Italian canzoni are the most numerous. The Austrian composer Franz Schubert is considered the greatest art song composer of all.^{[citation needed]} Despite a brief life, Schubert created an impressive output of some 600 lieder, including "Der Erlkönig", "Die Forelle", and "Gretchen am Spinnrade" as well as the two cycles, "Winterreise" and "Die schöne Müllerin".

Even though classical vocalists generally embark on successful performing careers as soloists by seeking out opera engagements, a number of today's most prominent singers have built their careers primarily by singing art songs, including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Thomas Quasthoff, Ian Bostridge, Matthias Goerne, Susan Graham, and Elly Ameling.

Prominent composers of art songs

English

American

Austrian & German

French

Spanish

19th century Composers of Spain include:

20th Century Composers include:

among many others

Italian

Eastern European

Franz Liszt - Hungary (born Hungarian, but more accurately a cosmopolitan native of Europe at large; except for a single Hungarian song a composer of Lieder & mélodies)
Antonín Dvořák - Czechoslovakia
Leoš Janáček - Czechoslovakia
Béla Bartók - Hungary
Zoltán Kodály - Hungary
Frédéric Chopin - Poland
Stanisław Moniuszko - Poland

Nordic

Edvard Grieg - Norway (set German as well as Norse & Danish poetry)
Jean Sibelius - Finland (set both Finnish & Swedish)
Yrjö Kilpinen - Finland
Wilhelm Stenhammar - Sweden
Hugo Alfvén - Sweden
Carl Nielsen - Denmark

Russian

Other

Filipino

Nicanor Abelardo

Afrikans

References

Kimball, Carol (2005), Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature, revised edition, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard, ISBN 978-1-4234-1280-9

Draayer, Suzanne (2009), Art Song Composers of Spain: An Encyclopedia, Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 978-0810863620

Draayer, Suzanne (2003), A Singer's Guide to the Songs of Joaquín Rodrigo, Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 978-0-8108-4827-6

Draayer, Suzanne (2011), Canciones de España—Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain, Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0-8108-8191-8 | 978-0-8108-8191-4 (low voice anthology)

Draayer, Suzanne (2003), Canciones de España—Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain, Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0-8108-4728-0 | 978-0-8108-4728-6 (high voice anthology)

Draayer, Suzanne (2005), Canciones de España—Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain, vol. 2 Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0-8108-5675-1 | 978-0-8108-5675-2 (low voice anthology)

Draayer, Suzanne (2005), Canciones de España—Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain, vol. 2, Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0-8108-5667-0 | 978-0-8108-5667-7 (high voice anthology)

Draayer, Suzanne (2007), Canciones de España—Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain, vol. 3 Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0-8108-5892-4 | 978-0-8108-5892-3 (low voice anthology)

Draayer, Suzanne (2007), Canciones de España—Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain, vol. 3, Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0-8108-5891-6 | 978-0-8108-5891-6 (high voice anthology)

External links

Art Song Composers of Spain [1]

Ukrainian art songs. Audio files. http://orpheusandlyra.tripod.com/id18.html

Canciones de España—Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain [2]