About the Book
Conductors John Yaffé and David Daniels have created a one-stop sourcebook for orchestras, opera companies, conductors, and librarians who research and/or prepare programs of vocal excerpts—such as solos, ensembles, and choruses—for concert performance. In this book, readers will find detailed information on a vast repertoire of vocal pieces commonly extracted from operas, operettas, musicals, and oratorios—more than 1,750 excerpts from 450 parent works. Modeled on Daniels’ Orchestral Music, Arias, Ensembles, & Choruses includes basic historical details about each parent work as well as extract titles, subtitles, voice types, keys, durations, locations in the original work (with page numbers in both full scores and piano-vocal scores), and exact instrumentation. It also lists the publishers that make available the orchestral materials for just the excerpt being programmed, independent of the full parent work.
Until now, conductors and orchestra librarians commonly had to first leaf through full scores, searching for one elusive three-minute aria after another, only to then consult multiple publishers' catalogues to compile crucial information on all the excerpts proposed for a concert or recording. This book constitutes a single source for finding that information. In many cases, the individual entries include valuable insider information on common performance practice, including start- and stop-points, transpositions, and conventional cuts. Searching for repertoire is made easy with the detailed title index and appendixes devoted to ensemble excerpts, all categorized by personnel (e.g., duets, trios, quartets, quintets, sextets, choruses) and language (Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian).
This book is the ideal tool for the working conductor and orchestral librarian, as well as music program directors at colleges and conservatories, opera companies, and symphony orchestras.
As of October 2015, a new printing of this book has occurred to correct errors in the index. A PDF version of the new index is available to previous purchasers of the volume. Please contact Rowman & Littlefield's music editor for assistance.
Table of Contents:
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
ARIAS, ENSEMBLES, & CHORUSES
Appendix
Ensembles
Choruses
Languages
Title Index
Publishers and Sources
About the Authors
About the Author :
John Yaffé is an internationally active conductor of opera and symphonic works. He trained in Los Angeles, New York, and Italy; spent 10 years as a coach and conductor in several European opera houses; and has gone on to lead operatic and orchestral performances throughout the U.S. and in both Western and Eastern Europe.
David Daniels is music director of the Warren Symphony and the author of Orchestral Music: A Handbook (Scarecrow, 2005), now in its 4th edition.
Review :
A review of a new book that will be valuable to conductors, choral directors, orchestra and opera librarians, and anyone planning programs with orchestra. "AEC" has been eagerly anticipated for years by those who prepare programs that include voice and orchestra. It is thoroughly researched, vetted by editorial experts, and indexed in every conceivable category. Not only opera and orchestra librarians, but every conductor and artistic advisor needs to add this indispensable volume to their nearest reference shelf.
This newest book in the Music Finders series published by Scarecrow Press, such as Daniels - Orchestral Music: A Handbook, Fourth Edition; Manning - Orchestral "Pops" Music: A Handbook; and Meyer - Chamber Orchestra and Ensemble Repertoire: A Catalog of Modern Music, represent a valuable contribution to our reference repertoire.
Yaffé and Daniels have used their expertise as conductors, and their passion for musicology, to bring to light important details on more than 1,750 excerpts from more than 450 works from opera, operetta, oratorio and musicals. Extensive and fascinating notes are included for many entries, such as "This duet contains a significant solo part for the principal violin" or "In solo concert performance, one generally stops at the B-major chord at fig. [94]" or "In solo concert performance cuts are made in both sections reducing the duration to 6 minutes." Each entry contains information about language, voice type, timings, excerpt location (in both the full scores and vocal scores), instrumentation (in the standard Daniels format), start and stops, cuts, keys, and sources of orchestral materials for the excerpt.
This book will be a great help also to those choruses that are performing with an orchestra and need to find matching material, and it will go a long way toward solving the problems that librarians and conductors face in those dreaded "Gala" programs.
This work is designed for use by orchestra conductors, opera companies, and music librarians to assist with their selection of vocal excerpts (e.g., solos, ensembles, choruses) for performances. More than 1,500 excerpts from 400 works are provided, each including information on its history, extract titles, subtitles, voice recommendations, keys, durations, locations in the original work (with page numbers), and instrumentation. Details on the source are listed as well—not only for the full parent work but also for the excerpt being presented. By allowing conductors to find these excerpts apart from their larger parent work it will save them valuable time. Many of the excerpts also include expert tips, such as start and stop points, transpositions, and conventional cuts. Appendixes will aid in research as well: they provide excerpts categorized by personnel (e.g., duets, trios, quartets) and language (e.g., English, French, German, Latin). This work will be very useful for all types of music libraries as well as any library serving orchestral conductors, opera companies, or philharmonics.
The volume…is invaluable….[L]ibraries, universities and colleges should add [this work] to their holdings.
“AEC” has been eagerly anticipated for years by those who prepare concert programs that include voice and orchestra. It is thoroughly researched, vetted by editorial experts, and indexed in every conceivable category. Not only opera and orchestra librarians, but every conductor and artistic advisor needs to add this indispensable volume to their nearest reference shelf.
Yaffé and Daniels have used their expertise as conductors, and their passion for musicology, to bring to light important details on more than 1,750 excerpts from more than 450 works from opera, operetta, oratorio, and musicals.
Extensive and fascinating notes are included for many entries. ach entry contains information about language, voice type, timings, excerpt location (in both the full scores and vocal scores), instrumentation (in the standard “Daniels” format), start and stops, cuts, keys, and sources of orchestral materials for the excerpt.
This book will be a great help also to those choruses that perform with an orchestra and need to find matching material, and it will go a long way toward solving the problems that librarians and conductors face in those dreaded “Gala” programs.
