Understanding French Verse: A Guide for Singers explains the formal structure of the French language and sets out the basics of French versification, using examples drawn from a wide range of well-known song settings. In clear and concise style, it explains the Alexandrine meter typically used in French-language poetry, how to distinguish different meters by counting syllables, how to identify stresses and rhyme in French verse, and ultimately, how to enhance the interpretation and enjoyment of the melodie . The book also offers valuable resources, including a brief history of French versification, detailed analysis of several poems, a glossary of technical terms, and suggestions for further reading. While other books help singers with French diction, or offer translations of French texts, no other book helps a singer understand the meaning behind what they are singing. Understanding French Verse is an essential tool for singers, accompanists, and other musicians who want to understand more about the French texts with which they are working.

"The core of this book on the French verse Alexander in France and Italy was written by eminent Alexander specialist David J.A. Ross, who left an incomplete typescript at his death. In its emphasis on illustration, this book offers new perspectives on the reception of one of the most popular medieval heroes. Ross's analysis of the illustrations proves that despite some convergent patterns there is no iconographic programme that coordinates the three major verse traditions as there is for the versions in prose. Nevertheless, the verse versions continued to be copied and illustrated long after the emergence of prose. The editors have expanded Ross's text, as he wished, to include a comparative analysis of the iconography and they have situated each manuscript as far as possible in its cultural context, demonstrating that the producers of the verse Alexander were also responsible for writing and illustrating a large number of other vernacular and liturgical books in Northern France, Paris, the South, and Italy. This volume is a sequel to Ross's Studies in the Alexander Romance and his Illustrated medieval Alexander-books in Germany and the Netherlands, and makes available an extensive corpus of high-quality images of this great hero."--

This guide is aimed at singers and singing teachers interseted in the French song repertoire. In a clear and concise way, using examples from well known song settings, it sets out the basics of French versification, showing how an understanding of verse techniques can enhance the enjoyment and interpretation of the French mélodie.

(Book). 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.

An influential social thinker, the late Richard Harvey Brown was professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and the author of Toward a Democratic Science: Scientific Narration and Civic Communication, published by Yale University Press.

`Verlaine, possessed by the madnesses of love, brimming over with desires and prayers, the rebel railing against the complacent platitudes of society, of love, of language'. Jean Rousselot Verlaine ranks alongside Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Rimbaud as one of the most outstanding poets of late nineteenth-century France whose work is associated with the early Symbolists, the Decadents, and the Parnassiens. Remarkable not only for his delicacy and exquisitely crafted verse, Verlaine is also the poet of strong emotions and appetites, with an unrivalled gift for the sheer music of poetry, and an inventive approach to its technique. This bilingual edition provides the most comprehensive selection of his poetry yet, offering some 170 poems in lively and fresh translations and providing a lucid introduction which illuminates Verlaine's poetic form within the context of French Impressionism and the poetry of sensation. Parallel text ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.