Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 342
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-4422-5843-3 • Hardback • December 2017 • $117.00 • (£90.00)
978-1-4422-5844-0 • Paperback • December 2017 • $62.00 • (£48.00)
978-1-4422-5845-7 • eBook • December 2017 • $58.50 • (£45.00)
Georgine Resick has taught French vocal literature, diction, and performance techniques for more than twenty years. She has sung operatic roles with prominent international opera companies and orchestras and has received numerous teaching awards, performing awards, and grants. Ms. Resick champions unknown and neglected song literature and has recorded eight solo CDS in numerous languages. Her DVD of Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire was released in 2015.
Prologue: French Prosody
Chapter One: French Poetry and the Development of Vocal Forms (12th-16th centuries)
Chapter Two: The Turbulent Century and the Air de cour (1576-1661)
Chapter Three: The Grand Siècle: Louis XIV and the birth of French opera (1661-1715)
Chapter Four: Life after Lully (1697-1750)
Entr’acte: Enlightenment, Revolution and Empire (1750-1815)
Chapter Five: Romance to Mélodie: The Advent of Romanticism in France (1815-1848)
Chapter Six: Middle Class Mélodie (1848-1870)
Chapter Seven: The Mélodie as Chamber Music (1850-75)
Chapter Eight : Wagnerites and Acolytes (1880s and 1890s)
Chapter Nine: The Belle Epoque I (1885-1894)
Chapter Ten: Harmonic and Prosodic Rebels: The “Impressionists” (Belle Époque II:1894-1906)
Chapter Eleven: “True France” and the March to War (Belle Époque III: 1906-1914)
Chapter Twelve : Les Années folles: Cocteau, Satie and Les Six (1918-1930)
Chapter 13: Mystical Mélodie: Romanticism extended(1914-1945)
Chapter Fourteen: Into the Twenty-First Century: Connecting the Irreconcilable (1945-present)
Many singers would find this [book] to be a welcome addition to the literature. . . The text would be a natural fit for a college vocal literature course. . . French Vocal Literature further establishes Resick’s reputation as a champion of underestimated composers and their work by providing resources for future generations while honoring the legacy of generations past.
— Classical Singer Magazine
Beginning with 12th-century troubadours and trouvères and continuing to the present, Resick discusses French composers and their repertoires for solo voice accompanied by keyboard or small ensemble. Resick extends her focus beyond the standard repertoire (Fauré, Debussy, Poulenc) to such neglected works as troubadour songs, 18th-century cantatas, and innovative post–WW II compositions by Edgard Varèse, Pierre Boulez, Betsy Jolas, and others. The author introduces several recurring themes in French music history—the long tradition of listening to music for pleasure; exotic influences from Spain, northern Africa, the Far East, and other locales; resistance to influence from Italian opera in the Baroque and Romantic periods; and the originality and independence of French composers across nine centuries. The author contextualizes the musical selections of each period by placing them in their political, social, and/or philosophical frame, and she discusses the relationship of music to the other arts, especially poetry and literature. Important terms are introduced in bold letters and defined in a six-page glossary, and a companion website includes a discography and publication information for each song presented in the text.
Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.
— Choice Reviews
A recitalist’s dream! Internationally recognized artist and scholar Georgine Resick presents and celebrates overlooked treasures in French Vocal Literature, exploring historic context, poetry, and relevance. The book is an illuminating adventure—a fresh, comprehensive guide for teachers, singers, and coaches.
— Gary Glaze, professor emeritus, vocal arts and opera, Flora L. Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California
Resick synthesizes essential historical, literary, and musicological information to illuminate the origins and evolution of French vocal repertoire in a context that will inform a deep understanding of style for the performer. Don’t program your next vocal recital without reading this book first!
— Paul Appleby, tenor, Metropolitan Opera
To find legal musical access and information (updated regularly), please visit the companion website, https://www.frenchvocalliterature.com/, which provides:
• publication information and discography for all musical works cited in the text;
• links to available online scores and recordings of works discussed;
• a chronology of salient events pertinent to politics, the arts, and music from the twelfth to the twenty-first centuries;
• a genealogy of royal dynasties and governmental regimes from 1498 to the present; and
• a French song family tree of musical influences.