Posted in Teaching, Vocal Diagnostics, Vocal Health

Finding Repertoire

   Published Date: February 18, 2020

Finding the right repertoire is a huge part of finding success as a singer. 

In the early stages of vocal study, it’s important to sing many different things while you have teachers, coaches, directors and conductors to healthily guide you through the process.  Even though you will have plenty of suggestions from the professionals with whom you work, it’s important to know where to regularly look for appropriate repertoire.  

So, where do you start? 

Listening

Whether it’s Spotify, Apple Music, or even just social media and YouTube, it’s important to listen to anything and everything!  You will discover so many unknown works that may fit you like glove and which you will sing for the next 20 years, unless you are not finding and listening to them!  Listen to your peers, listen to what your teachers sing.  Look for recitals in your area. Be a sponge! 

in my experience, Spotify tends to have the most user-friendly search engine for classical content. Apple music claims to have the most music of all the major platforms but a search function leave something to be desired and sometimes you have to be so ridiculously specific that you miss things, although the relatively new classical music app that Apple has just put out, has a much better search feature and may be a game changer in years to come.Naxos music library is also excellent.  If you are affiliated with a university, some of these subscriptions and memberships are free. If not, you may not be able to justify the extra cost.  
 
In addition to online listening, be a singer geek and attend lecture recitals, special presentations and take a look at recitals that the “A-listers” are giving.  Often these types of events will champion lesser-known works, or things that have recently been discovered, or have never been published.  In addition, don’t forget about our Musicologist friends.  They ahve an expansive knowledge of music history and often know of works that we voice teachers and coaches may not have on our radar.  Ask them, they will love it!  
 

Sheet Music

 

Ok, it’s obvious, but still worth mentioning.  In our digital age, let’s face it, most students only know what is available free online and what they can get from either their teacher or coach’s personal library or their own school library.  Of course we should be purchasing our scores anyway (either in digital or hard copy form), but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do research to find out what’s out there first.  

Anthologies are a great place to start.  You’ll find a ton of great pieces in these anthologies even if some of the content doesn’t match your current skill level.  Even if you don’t fall in love with the repertoire in those particular anthologies, it helps to introduce you to the composers or styles that you may not be aware of. 

Some examples include:

  • Arias for Soprano Complete package
  • Arias for Soprano Complete package Volume 2
  • Coloratura Arias for Soprano Complete Package
  • Arias for Mezzo-Soprano Complete Package
  • Arias for Tenor Complete Package
  • Arias for Baritone Complete Package
  • Arias for Bass Complete Package
  • Diction Coach Arias for Soprano
  • American Opera Anthology-Soprano
  • American Opera Anthology-Mezzo-Soprano
  • American Opera Anthology-Tenor
  • American Opera Anthology-Baritone/Bass
  • First Book of Soprano Solos Vol. 1 and 2
  • First book of Mezzo-Soprano/Alto Solos Vol. 1 and 2
  • First Book of Tenor Solos Vol. 1 and 2
  • First Book of Baritone/Bass Solos Vol. 1 and 2
  • Second Book of Solos (for Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor and Baritone)
  • 28 Italian Songs and Arias
  • Italian Tenor Arias
  • Anthology of Spanish Song
  • Lieder Anthology
  • Singer’s Musical Anthology Vol. 1, 2, 3 and 4 (For Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor and Baritone)
  • The Spirituals of Harry T. Burleigh
  • Contemporary Theater Songs
  • Bernstein Theater Songs
  • Contemporary Broadway Audition
  • 16 Bar Theater Audition
  • The Big Book of Broadway
  • Broadway for Solo Singers
  • The Stephen Sondheim Collection Vol. 1 and 2
  • Stephen Sondheim 25 Selected Favorites
  • The Almost Unknown Stephen Sondheim
  • Sondheim Anthologies (for Soprano, Tenor, Mezzo, and Baritone)
  • The Gershwin Songbook
  • Richard Rodgers Collection
  • Best of Gilbert and Sullivan
  • The Rodgers and Hammerstein Collection
  • Standard Voal Literature (Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor, Baritone)
  • The Oratorio Anthology (Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor, Baritone/Bass)
  • Folk Songs for Solo Singers (various editions of this series)
  • Canciones de Espana (Various volumes)

You get the idea.  Plenty out there.  

When or if you search for classical vocal anthologies, but be aware, you will get VERY different results depending on the website you go to.  Barnes and noble for example has the anthologies mixed in with full opera scores and piano vocal scores for various shows.  J.W. Pepper has a limited listing of only anthologies and a ton of broadway for students of all ages.  Sheetmusicplus.com also has a limited listing when you search under those parameters.  So!  Bottom line, you’ll have to do a little digging and ask people what they like and what they have used already.  

Don’t forget that a number of fantastic collections will not show up on those anthology searches.  Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, Brahms, Strauss, Hahn, Poulenc, Faure,  Vaughan Williams, Quilter, Finzi, etc. will all have excellent collections that might not show up in your standard search.  Britten, for example has multiple volumes of opera arias specific to voice type, and many different volumes of folk song arrangements that might not be on your radar.  Typically most of the well-known composers will have a volume of their “greatest hits” in publication, so don’t forget about that.  You can even find things like Mozart concert arias that are more niche types of repertoire. 

Other Sources

Say you have a pretty good grasp on what’s out there and available, but you’re looking to expand your knowledge of composers and things that may not be as well known in general.  Where do you look for that? 

Here are a few of my favorite sources:

  • Song, a guide to Art Song Style and Literature by Carol Kimball
  • Art Song, Linking Poetry and Music by Carol Kimball
  • The Art of the Song Recital by Shirlee Emmons and Stanley Sonntag
Then, there are the specialty texts that hone in on one composer and give tremendous insights useful in interpretation. Some examples include:
 
  • The Songs of Johannes Brahms by Eric Sams
  • The Fiscdher-Dieskau Book of Lieder
  • The Songs of Hugo Wolf, by Eric Sams
  •  

Other fantastic resources that require a little more work,  but can really help you find some things off the beaten path and things that you might have never otherwise discover include resources like: 

–British Solo Song by Michael Pilkington

This is a massive catalog listing of British composers and all of their vocal works. Some composers listed here are composers you won’t find very many other places. And it’s nice to have them all in one handy resource.

–Oxford Music Online (formerly Grove Music)

This is perhaps the most expensive resource. Granted you will be sifting through all things musical not just repertoire, but if you search for a specific composer then look under his complete vocal works you will get a total and comprehensive list of anything that composer has ever written. This will include works with instrument ensembles or orchestra in addition to solo vocal works. A tremendous resource!

–lieder.net

this is another excellent resource targeting composers and poets. You can search by a song text or you can search by composer but you can find all kinds of information about the poets, the works they wrote and who may have set those poems. This resource continues to grow every year and has proved to be a reliable source of information. 

What are some of your  favorite sources for finding repertoire?