The
human voice is in many ways the most flexible and expressive musical instrument
known to man, as well as being the first. The organization of sounds that
developed into the first musical systems of the world were based on the human
voice, and professional composers have been inspired to write for it for
centuries. Contemporary popular music
is almost exclusively for the accompanied voice, and classical music has a huge
repertoire of vocal music for soloist, chorus, and all kinds of combinations
with instrumental accompaniment.
This 9th Volume in the Musical Musings series of articles about classical music
continues with works that are for or include the voice. All types of vocal
music are included save for opera, which I consider to be a separate category
in itself. The time line of composers
is from Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) to Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975) and
range from works for solo voice and piano, to works for soloists, chorus and
orchestra. The mix of compositions contained within also range from the well
known to the obscure.
Most of
the works are not in English, a detriment to understanding for some. Indeed,
the essence of most vocal music is in the meaning behind the words and how the
composer has molded the music to them. But the listener who accepts the
challenge of exploring the words and music will be rewarded with hearing some
of the most powerful, beautiful, and masterful music written.
Translations
are included for the text of each work. These translations have been gleaned
from various sources. Some are copyrighted, and proper credit is given to the
translator, some are in the public domain, and for some of the lesser-known
pieces I have provided my own English translation. I am by no means a polyglot,
and these translations were done with the help of the computer. As such, they
can only give an approximation and are intended to give a general idea of the
original text’s meaning.
