Art Song in the United States, 1759-1999: An Annotated Bibliography (review)

This bibliography's genesis was a program insert for the National Association of Teachers of Singing (hereafter NATS) Bicentennial Convention in Philadelphia in 1976. Charged with creating a list of a few hundred songs, the editors instead did much more. With about fourteen hundred entries for the first edition (1976), the bibliography grew to nearly two thousand in the second edition (1987), and now to more than twenty-four hundred. This third edition of Art Song in the United States is the first to be widely available, for the first two were published by NATS. New to the third edition is a discography with 338 entries. Art Song in the United States is by far the most comprehensive bibliography of American art song compiled to date.

The foursome who compiled the first edition are still those responsible for the present form of the work. All singers and teachers of singing, the editors have devoted a large portion of their careers to the topic and are highly qualified for the task. Judith Carman not only edited this edition but also the first edition and its supplement (1978), and was a contributing editor to the second edition (1987). She is currently the music reviewer for NATS's Journal of Singing. William Gaeddert edited the second edition and contributed to the other editions as well. Rita Resch also contributed to each of the editions, while Gordon Myers compiled the special section devoted to early American art song for all three editions. Carman, Gaeddert, and Resch all earned their doctorates at the University of Iowa where they studied with Herald I. Stark. Myers, who has researched, performed, and recorded early American songs, earned his doctorate at Columbia University.

Carman clearly explains in her preface (pp. ix-x) the criteria for inclusion in this selective bibliography. They are songs composed as such for one voice and piano, and settings of English texts or with singable translations. (Songs by Americans with texts in foreign languages are placed in the appendix.) No folk song settings, concert arias, operatic or musical theater arias, spirituals, or songs composed for other purposes (for example, church solos) are included. Only published songs available, or at some time available, for purchase are included. The editors define composers as American if they are native born, immigrated to the United States before age 33 and became citizens, or were otherwise adopted as such.

The work is perhaps most useful for teachers of studio voice, but it is also valuable for students, performers, and researchers. The entries are so detailed that the bibliography also functions as a repertory guide. Included, in addition to complete bibliographic information, are range, tessitura, meter, tempo, length, difficulty level, voice type, mood, description of vocal and piano parts, difficult aspects, uses of the song, and a reference to the discography if the song has been recorded. In addition to the number of entries and the wealth of information they contain, the bibliography has a number of indexes and other aids. A chronological listing of composers is arranged by decade of birth. There is a list of the song publishers and a bibliography of the sources used by the editors. Four indexes—composer, poet, special characteristics (encore songs, humorous songs, special voice types, etc.), and title—greatly enhance the volume's usability.

Along with its many strengths, this bibliography does have some weaknesses. In any selective bibliography readers will question some of the compilers' choices. For example, for Carrie Jacobs Bond only one entry, Half Minute Songs, is included, while her two most successful and most frequently recorded songs, "I Love You Truly" and "A Perfect Day," were omitted. Also, although Half Minute Songs was recorded once (Paul Sperry Sings Songs of an...