Music Teachers Blog

It’s spring, and what better way to connect with the budding weather than to sing about it! Here is a listing of easy, intermediate and advanced art songs for soprano, mezzo, tenor and bass/ baritone all about spring.

Soprano

The Sweetest Flower that Blows by Charles B. Hawley
(Easy Songs for the Beginning Soprano)

This is a gem of a piece, short, sweet, and beautiful. The range moves from E-flat4 to G5, and the phrases are all in a downward sighing motion, which helps the head voice move into the lower register. The text is slightly melancholy of a lover giving her love a flower as they part.

Love’s Philosophy by Roger Quilter
(A Heritage of 20th Century British Song: Vol. 4)

This piece is a rush of color and legato textures in the voice and piano. The range is a bit wider, moving from D4 to A5. The is more intermediate because of the contrast of quicker moving notes in the middle voice, which need to be well-tuned, and the sustained pitches in and above the passagio. The text compares all of the pairings seen in nature with the love the narrator feels for her lover.

Stänchen by Richard Strauss
(Strauss 30 Songs for Voice and Piano: International)

This is one of my favorite Strauss pieces. The piano accompaniment is evocative of the bubbling brook, and the vocal line soars above. The trickiest think about this piece is meshing the piano with the intricate rhythms of some of the vocal lines. The range is from C-sharp4 to A-sharp5. Here again there are many sustained pitches in and above the passagio, it is a good technique builder for finding the right balance of space and support. The German text is flirtatious and adventurous, of a young man serenading his love to come and enjoy nature in the moonlight.

Mezzo

The Daisies by Samuel Barber
(Samuel Barber: Collected Songs for Low Voice)

For many young women starting voice study, most voice teachers don’t classify the voice as soprano or mezzo yet. I like this piece for voices that can’t go too high yet. The range rests mostly in the middle voice, moving from D4 to F5. The introduction is a little tricky with the vocal entrance, but the rest of the phrasing is pretty stable. The text is all about the narrator and his lover walking through the fields of daisies.

Silent Noon by Ralph Vaughan Williams
(First Book of Mezzo-Soprano Solos)

This piece is a classic staple, and again lies mainly in the middle voice, reaching from C4-E-flat5. The music is very sectionalized, so for every poetic shift, the music shifts as well. The voice needs to be very independent and confident because the rhythms are a little unpredictable and the piano has its own material. The text transports you to a beautiful spring day in the grass admiring in silence the face of your love.

Våren by Edvard Grieg
(A Grieg Song Anthology by Bradley Ellingboe)

Musically, this piece is very simplistic. The form is strophic, and the phrases are very balanced and predictable. The range is very manageable, lying mainly in the middle voice F4- F5. However, when singing the Norwegian, this piece becomes a whole different ballgame. As in many Norwegian poems, the poet depicts the singer’s journey through winter, or age, and finding the peace and beauty of eternity in the return of spring.

Tenor

Come Again, Sweet Love by John Dowland
(First Book of Tenor Solos)

In the spirit of spring love, this piece is wonderful for the budding tenor. The material is strophic, and the lines and mostly descending, which help the singer bridge the head voice/ chest mixture. The range is also manageable, moving from D3-E4.

Das Veilchen by W. A. Mozart
(Mozart Lieder: Tiefere Stimme Edition Peters)

This is a wonderful yet bittersweet vignette. The range is manageable for an intermediate tenor with an octave range from E3 to E4. There are several lines with a beautiful cascading grace notes, which bridge the head voice to the chest voice. The text is a bittersweet story of a violet that loves a shepherdess, but instead of being picked, he is trampled upon by her foot.

O Del Mio Amato Ben by Stephano Donaudy
(First Book of Tenor Solos Part II)

This is certainly one of the most beautiful Italian love songs. The lines are a bit more difficult, with many 6ths and octave leaps and many ascending lines, which require a more refined balance of support. The range moves from E-flat3 to F4. The text describes the longing for the singer’s love.

Bass/ Baritone

Beautiful Dreamer by Stephen Foster
(Songs of Stephen Foster: Hal Leonard)

This is a classical American salon song, which is wonderful for the beginning baritone. The piece is strophic, with primarily descending lines to bridge the head and chest registers. The range moves from E-flat3 to E-flat4. The text is imagery of the singer serenading his love to awake to the beautiful nature of the night.

It was a Lover and His Lass by Gerald Finzi
(Gerald Finzi: Let Us Garlands Bring)

This piece is for the intermediate singer with more musical experience. There are several meter changes, and it requires more independence from the singer to maintain the vocal. The range is slightly lower, started at B2 up to E4. As for the text, Finzi takes Shakespeare’s well-known poem about two lovers who have found love in spring.

Lydia by Gabriel Fauré
(Fauré 30 Songs For Voice and Piano: Medium)

This is a very famous French piece, and a wonderful addition to a budding baritone’s advanced repertoire. The vocal line and piano accompaniment flow in a relaxed andante tempo. The range is manageable moving from F3 to F4, however, with all of the agogic accents and faster leaps; the voice must maintain the consistent resonance throughout. The text expresses the singer’s love for Lydia, and compares her beauty to the beauty of nature.

Posted in Teaching Tips |