Singing in Czech
A Guide to Czech Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Rowman & Littlefield
Published:11th Dec '14
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Timothy Cheek’s revised edition of Singing in Czech: A Guide to Czech Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire, with its accompanying audio accessible online, builds on the original pioneering work of 2001 that set “a new and very welcome high standard for teaching lyric diction,” according to Notes: The Journal of the Music Library Association. It offers users updated information, important clarifications, and expanded repertoire in a more accessible, easier to use format. Singing in Czech is divided into two parts. Using IPA, the first part takes the reader systematically through each sound of the Czech language, enhanced by recordings of native Czech opera singers. Chapters cover the Czech vowels, consonants, rules of assimilation, approaches to singing double consonants, stress and length, Moravian dialect, and an introduction to singing in Slovak. Fine points of formal pronunciation have been clarified in this revised edition. In the second part, Cheek offers a thorough overview of Czech art song, expanded from the first edition. Texts to major song literature and opera excerpts by Smetana, Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů, and Haas, with timings, editions, word-for-word translations, idiomatic translations, and IPA transcriptions follow. In this revision, Cheek has included additional cycles by Dvořák and Martinů, and two new chapters on Czech female composers Vítězslava Kaprálová and Sylvie Bodorová. This revised edition of Singing in Czech is useful for all those who are interested and engaged in the performance of the rich Czech vocal repertoire.
Over the past decade or so, singing in Czech has become more and more accepted, and one might even say popular. A big part of this change was Timothy Cheek’s 2001 publication of Singing in Czech, which not only provided an explanation of Czech lyric diction, but also gave IPA transcriptions and both word for word and idiomatic English translations of many Czech songs and arias. This book opened up the world of Czech art song to American singers in a wonderful way. It has been nearly fifteen years since the publication of that volume, and now Cheek has published a revised and somewhat expanded edition.... If, like me, you are excited by the inclusion of new repertoire, or if you do not already possess the 2001 edition, then Singing in Czech: A Guide to Czech Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire, Revised Edition, available in soft cover and ebook, is well worth the money. It is a vital reference for anyone who wishes to sing in Czech or who has students who wish to do so, and it would make an excellent text for a class on Czech diction and/or repertoire. * The Opera Journal *
Here we are, nearly 15 years later, and Tim has done it again! I would not have thought it possible, but this maestro of all things Czech has actually improved and enhanced the new edition of his iconic book. These intervening years of teaching and coaching all over the world have taught the author where clarification and enhancement were needed, and he gladly supplies them here. He has added more songs, and he has chosen to spotlight worthwhile composers not known outside the Czech Republic. A big thank you to Tim, who has enabled us all to be comfortable in this beautiful language and repertoire. -- Martin Katz, international collaborative pianist and vocal coach
As someone with a profound love for the Czech language, music and culture, I have been wanting to write you since becoming familiar with your work, to acknowledge what an extraordinary gift your book is to all three elements—what you have done to make the Czech language more approachable to Anglophone singers is amazing, and this is to express my deep and sincere admiration. -- Véronique Firkusny, translator, Czech diction coach
ISBN: 9780810888777
Dimensions: 228mm x 154mm x 30mm
Weight: 635g
430 pages