So You Want to Sing Early Music: A Guide for Performers

by Martha Elliott

Overview

A great majority of European music written before 1750 is for voices but remains understudied and underperformed. It includes music for groups of voices and solo voices, with and without instruments, music for the church and the theater, for the court and the chamber, as well as music in different languages and with different national styles. In So You Want to Sing Early Music, Martha Elliott introduces this remarkably rich and varied repertoire within a historical context for the 21st century singer.



Focusing on music from the 17th and early 18th centuries, this book offers guidance on style and ornamentation, working with vocal and instrumental colleagues, reading manuscripts and edited editions of scores. Elliot shares advice for how to handle the different kinds of early music performance situations in which singers might find themselves, as well as where to find workshops and performance opportunities. Equally helpful to the classically trained solo singer or amateur choral singer, So You Want to Sing Early Music will allow them to broaden their repertoire and build their stylistic toolbox.



Additional chapters by Scott McCoy and Wendy LeBorgne address universal questions of voice science, pedagogy, and vocal health,. The So You Want to Sing seriesis produced in partnership with the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Like all books in the series, So You Want to Sing Early Music features online supplemental material on the NATS website. Please visit www.nats.org to access style-specific exercises, audio and video files, and additional resources.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538105894
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	02/08/2019
Series:	So You Want to Sing , #15
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.89(w) x 9.09(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Martha Elliott has been a member of the Performance Faculty at Princeton University since 1985. She has taught courses and workshops in early music performance, and coached baroque opera productions at Princeton and elsewhere. Her performing career has featured a wide variety of repertoire and styles including a specialty in early music.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Historical Overview of the Repertoire
Chapter 2 – Singing and Voice Science, Scott McCoy
Chapter 3 – Vocal Health for the Early Music Singer, Wendy LeBorgne
Chapter 4 – Grandfathers of Voice Pedagogy
Chapter 5 – Elements of Baroque Style
Chapter 6 – It’s All Chamber Music
Chapter 7 – Know the Score
Chapter 8 – Using All the Tools
Appendix A – So You Want to Be a Consort Singer?, Gabriel Crouch
Appendix B – Singing with Players, Mary Benton, Patricia Hlafter, Judith Klotz & Amy Warren
Appendix C – Approximating the Past, Jamie Reuland

Editorial Reviews

This is an essential volume for singers, teachers, and even conductors of early music at any level. Packed with information, suggestions, resources, and illustrative examples—and invaluable bonus chapters—it clearly and comprehensively delineates the many musical and practical considerations this enticing repertoire compels us to make.

Ryan Brandau

Taking on the complex and often confusing subject of early music performance and practice, Martha Elliott has written an invaluable resource for singers, teachers, and coaches alike. This book is both a terminal resource and a jumping off place for continued exploration of this vast musical treasury.

William Burden

The main emphasis of So You Want to Sing Early Music is to highlight the numerous styles of vocal repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, ranging from solo songs with lute to secular and sacred cantatas to five- or six-part consort music and even to early opera. This also helps illuminate the diversity of vocal skills that are called for in this wide-ranging era. Arguably, however, the book’s greatest attribute is the context it provides. Elliott expertly reveals the styles and trends that evolved over centuries to form our current understanding of baroque performance practice. In this way, So You Want to Sing Early Music serves as a thorough introductory guide to the history, vocal approach, and style of early music. Reviewed by Brian Maternach.

Classical Singer Magazine

In sum, Elliott’s book on singing early music is outstanding.. . Elliott has provided an excellent introduction for singers beginning to engage with this music, and she even offers new perspectives to those well-versed in the repertoire.

Early Music America