Brahms's Vocal Duets and Quartets with Piano: A Guide with Full Texts and Translations [Hardcover]

Lucien Stark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 22, 1998

"... a generous treatment of some of Brahms's most endearing and imaginative creations." —Choice

"... an excellent addition to the literature on vocal chamber music... " —Notes

In this sequel to A Guide to the Solo Songs of Johannes Brahms, Lucien Stark opens up a beautiful and largely neglected repertoire, providing the full German text for each song, along with a new English translation, notes on vocal ranges, and a wealth of engaging commentary of technical, aesthetic, and historical interest.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)
Original Language: German

About the Author

Lucien Stark, Professor Emeritus of Piano at the University of Kentucky, maintains a full schedule of coaching and performance.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (July 22, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253334020
• ISBN-13: 978-0253334022
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,548,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Brahms

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Missing quotations limit the value, July 19, 2000

By 

Stuart Bloom - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brahms's Vocal Duets and Quartets with Piano: A Guide with Full Texts and Translations (Hardcover)

The vocal duets and quartets by Brahms are performed very rarely these days, but their number includes some works that can stand with the composer's finest efforts and are thus deserving of more frequent hearings. In this book, Lucien Stark analyzes the 25 duets (including the five numbers of Opus 75, which were written for one or two voices but are almost always done as solos) and 61 quartets that comprise this body of work.

For each song, Stark provides the German text, along with an English translation. He does not attempt to maintain the rhyme or meter in the translation, which lets him reflect accurately the meaning of the German. He then gives the range employed for each voice in the work, the approximate timing for a performance, and the form. This information is followed by a brief descriptive analysis of the work. Stark's analyses are not so detailed or exhaustively researched as those by Eric Sams in his just-published volume on Brahms's solo works.

The major deficiency of this book is the absence of musical quotations. In his introduction, the author admits that "much of the analysis assumes that a score will be accessible to the reader." Scores for many of these works are available only as individual sheets -- and for a few, not in print at all -- which makes it difficult to get full value from much of Stark's otherwise commendable writing. A 158-page book that sells for $35 should have been expanded with quotations of key musical material.