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Singers, teachers, coaches, and conductors will appreciate
French Lyric Diction: A Singer's Guide for its thorough account of the language as it is sung in opera and
mélodie. Often-overlooked topics are explored, including phrasal and emphatic stress, vocalic length, singing the French
r, and traditions in the setting of French poetry. Considerable attention is paid to the subject of
liaison, with recommendations on how to make decisions about optional
liaisons in singing. A comprehensive guide to orthography provides instruction on the pronunciation of all French spellings, including many optional secondary pronunciations, and accepted
francisé pronunciation for loanwords. Pronunciation dictionaries give transcriptions for over 10,000 names of composers, poets, artists, roles, performers, characters, and places, as well as everyday musical terms.
List of contents
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- PART ONE: Singing in French
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: The International Phonetic Alphabet in French
- Chapter 2: French Vowel Sounds
- Chapter 3: French Consonant Sounds
- Chapter 4: The 'Consonant-Vowel Flow' of the French Phrase
- Chapter 5: Liaison
- Chapter 6: Mute e in French Poetry and Vocal Music
- Chapter 7: Special Pronunciation Considerations
- PART TWO: French Pronunciation A-Z
- Preamble to Part Two
- A Comprehensive Pronunciation Guide to French Orthography
- PART THREE: Pronunciation Dictionaries
- Preamble to Part Three
- Pronunciation Dictionary of Proper Nouns
- Pronunciation Dictionary of Borrowed Italian Musical Terms
- Bibliography
- Index
About the author
Jason Nedecky is an instructor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, and diction coach for its opera division. At the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, he teaches French lyric diction and repertoire courses. Nedecky has appeared as baritone soloist in North America and Europe and is a member of the Canadian Opera Company chorus. He has also covered and performed numerous supporting roles for the company and has acted as its French diction coach.
Summary
French Lyric Diction: A Singer's Guide provides a thorough account of the language as it is sung in opera and mélodie, exploring often-overlooked topics including phrasal and emphatic stress, vocalic length, singing the French r, and traditions in the setting of French poetry.
Additional text
This volume is a monumental contribution to the discipline. The author offers detailed, yet clear explanations of every aspect of French lyric diction, from syllabification to vocalic harmonization...Singers who fear French will find this volume an invaluable resource in allaying their trepidations, and those who have already fallen in love with the language and the literature will welcome the comprehensive, yet nuanced guidance provided by Nedecky.
