Diction Resources for Singers

Web pronunciation sound files
Web phonetic spellings, IPA, and/or translations
More web resources
Books on pronouncing names and terms
  • The Well-Tempered Announcer/ Robert A.Fradkin
    Good general reference, lots of information, index.
    ML109 .F731996
  • Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names / John K. Bollard includes over 23,000 proper names, phonetics and IPA
    PE1137 .P822 1998
  • Pronouncing Dictionary of Musical Terms
    includes works & composers,phonetic readings, no IPA
    ML109 .C59
  • Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation (both Amer and Brit)
    PE1137.U66 2001
  • Longman Pronunciation Dictionary / J.C. Wells
    IPA for both Amer and Brit
    PE1137 .W44 1990
    Book is 1st ed.; for 3rd ed., see http://www.pearsonlongman.com/dictionaries/LPD/
  • Singing Early Music / T.J. McGee., A.G. Rigg, D.N. Klausner IPA for Late Middle Ages and Renaissance song texts
    MT883 .S56 1996+LPCD 72561
  • The Goliard Poets / George F.Whicher
    medieval Latin songs with translations
    ML54.6 G64 1949
Books with Phonetic readings and/or IPA, and translations by language
(for Latin, see Conductors tab)

Multiple Languages

  • The Ring of Words: an Anthology of Song Texts / Philip Lieson Miller
    ML54.6 .M5 R5 1973
  • Word-by-Word Translations of Songs and Arias, part 1, German and French / Berton Coffin and Pierre Delattre
    ML54.6 .W65 v.1
  • Word-by-Word Translations of Songs and Arias, part 2, Italian /
    Arthur Schoep and Daniel Harris
    ML54.6 .W65 v.2

Opera Libretti (IPA and translations)

  • French Opera Libretti / Nico Castel
    ML48 .F875 1999 (3 volumes)
  • German Miscellaneous Opera Libretti / Nico Castel
    ML48 .G47 2005
  • Italian Belcanto Opera Libretti / Nico Castel
    ML48 .I82 2000 (3 volumes)
  • Italian Verismo Opera Libretti / Nico Castel
    ML48 .I88 2000 (2 volumes)
  • Opera Choruses Pronunciation Guide
    LPCD 129,799 - 129,800
  • Carmen: A Performance Guide/ M. Dibbern
    MT883 .D502 2000
  • Handel Opera Libretti
    ML49 .H13 K4 2005
  • The Janacek Opera Libretti / Timothy Cheek
    ML49 .J36 J37 2003
  • The Libretti of Mozart's Completed Operas
    ML49 .M83 C37 1997 (2 volumes)
  • The Complete Puccini Libretti / Nico Castel
    ML49 .P75 C37 1994 (2 volumes)
  • Four Strauss Opera Libretti / Nico Castel
    ML49 .S87 C3 2002
  • The Complete Verdi Libretti
    ML49 .V45 C372 1994 (3 volumes)
  • Three Wagner Opera Libretti
    ML49 .W14 R57 2006
  • [Wagner] Der Ring des Nibelungen
    ML50 .W14 R32 2003

Czech

  • Singing in Czech: A Guide to Czech Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire / Timothy Cheek
    MT883 .C44 2001 + LPCD 84852

French

  • The Interpretation of French song / Pierre Bernac
    MT892 .B4 1978
  • Masters of the French Art Song: Translations of the complete Songs of Chausson, Debussy, Duparc, Fauré & Ravel / Timothy Le Van
    ML54.6 .M33 1991

German

  • Ten Cycles of Lieder (Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, Schubert, Schumann) / Marie-Therese Paquin
    ML54.6 .D59
  • The Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder / D. Fischer-Dieskau
    ML54.6 .F572 1977
  • German Lieder / P.L. Miller, ed.
    ML54.6 .G275 1990
  • Lieder Line by Line: and Word for Word / Lois Phillips
    ML54.6 .P55 L5 1996
  • The Penguin Book of Lieder / S. Prawer
    ML54.6 .P75 P5

Italian

  • Italian Song Texts from the 17th through the 20th Centuries/ Martha Gerhart
    ML54.6 .I82 2002 (2 volumes)
  • Arie Antiche / Dorothy Richardson and Tina Ruta
    ML54.6 .A75 1990 (LIB USE ONLY)

Russian

  • Russian Songs & Arias: Phonetic Readings, Word-by-Word Translations, and a Concise Guide to Russian Diction /Jean Piatak and Regina Avrashov
    ML54.6 .P58 1991

Spanish

  • The Singer's Anthology of 20th Century Spanish Songs / Josep Miquel Sobrer & Edmon Colomer
    ML54.6 .S57 1987
  • The Spanish Song Companion / Jaqueline Cockburn & Richard Stokes
    ML54.6 .S595 2006
Books with Phonetic readings and/or IPA, and translations by composer

Bizet

  • Carmen: A Performance Guide/ M. Dibbern
    MT883 .D502 2000

Brahms

  • Texts of the vocal Works of Johannes Brahms / Henry S. Drinker
    ML49 .B85
  • Brahms's Vocal Duets and Quartets with piano / Lucien Stark
    MT115 .B73 S7 1998
  • A Guide to the Solo Songs of Johannes Brahms / Lucien Stark
    MT115 .B73 S73 1995
  • Brahms' Complete Song Texts / Beaumont Glass
    ML54.6 .B72 G62 1999
  • Phonetic Readings of Brahms Lieder/ Candace A. Magner
    MT883 .M23 1987

Debussy

  • The Singer's Debussy / Marie-Claire Rohinsky
    ML54.6 .D42 R62 1987
  • The Poetic Debussy / M. Cobb; transl. R. Miller
    ML54.6 .D42 C62 1982

Monteverdi

  • Monteverdi Songs & Madrigals /Denis Stevens
    ML54.7 .C54 2000

Moussorgsky

  • English Texts for the Songs of Modeste Moussorgsky /
    Henry S. Drinker
    ML54.6 .M9 D7 1950

Rachmaninoff

  • Rachmaninov's Complete Song Texts / Laurence Richter
    ML54.6 .R18 R5 2000
  • The Singer's Rachmaninoff / Natalia Challis
    ML54.6 R18 S52 1989

Rodrigo

  • A Singer's guide to the Songs of Joaquin Rodrigo / Suzanne Rhodes Draayer
    ML410 .R632 D73 1999

Schubert

  • The Schubert Song Companion / John Reed
    (see music library reserves)
  • Texts of the Solo Songs of Franz Schubert in English Translation / Henry S. Drinker
    ML54.6 .S39 D7 1951
  • Schubert: the Complete Song Texts / Richard Wigmore
    ML54.6 .S39 W53 1988 (LIB USE ONLY)
  • Schubert's Complete Song Texts / Beaumont Glass
    ML54.6 .S39 G5 (2 volumes)
  • Schubert and Schumann: Songs and Translations / Robert R. Garran
    ML54.6 .S39 G3 1946

Schumann

  • Texts of the vocal Works or Robert Schumann/ Henry S. Drinker
    ML49 .S38 1947
  • The Singer's Schumann / Thilo Reinhard 1989
  • Schubert and Schumann: Songs and Translations / Robert R. Garran
    ML54.6 .S39 G3 1946

Tchaikovsky

  • Tchaikovsky's Complete Song Texts / L.R. Richter
    L54.6 .T24 R52 1999 (LIB USE ONLY)
  • Tchaikovsky's Complete Songs: A Companion with Texts and Translations / R.D. Sylvester
    ML54.6 .T24 S9 2002 + LPCD 87502

Wolf

  • Hugo Wolf's Complete Song Texts / Beaumont Glass
    ML54.6 .W62 G6 2000
  • Texts of the Solo Songs of Hugo Wolf / Henry S. Drinker
    ML54.6 .W62 D72 1949
Diction manuals by language

Multiple languages by author last name

  • A Handbook of Diction for Singers: Italian, German, French / David Adams
    MT883 .A23 1999
  • The Singer's Manual of German and French Diction /
    Richard G. Cox
    MT883 .C69
  • Diction: Italian, Latin, French, German / John Moriarty
    MT872 .M67
  • The Singer's Guide to Languages / Marcie Stapp
    includes verb charts and translation hints
    MT883 .S73 1996
  • International Phonetic Alphabet for Singers: A Manual for English and Foreign Language Diction / Joan Wall
    MT883 .W35 1989
  • Diction for Singers: A Concise Reference for English, Italian, Latin, German, French, and Spanish / Joan Wall et al.
    MT883 .D52 1990

Czech

  • Singing in Czech / Timothy Cheek
    MT883 .C44 2001 + LPCD 84852

English

  • Singing in english: A Manual of English Diction for Singers and Choral Directors / Richard Cox
    MT883 .C692 1990
  • American Diction for Singers / Geoffrey G. Forward
    MT883 .F67 1994
  • Singing and Communicating in English: A Singer's Guide to English Diction / Kathryn LaBouff
    MT883 .L12 2008

French

  • French Lyric Diction / Thomas M. Donnan
    MT 883 .D66 1994
  • Singing in French / Thomas Grubb
    MT883 .G88
  • Dictionnaire de la prononciation française / Léon Warnant
    No definitions, just IPA for words; includes a section in the back with IPA for names of people and places.
    PC2137 .W3 1987 (on 4th fl. reserve shelf with books by author)

German

  • Gateway to German Diction / Paton
    MT883 .P32 1999
  • German for Singers / William Odom
    MT883 .O35

Italian

  • Singers' Italian / Evelina Colorni
    MT883 .C64

Latin

  • Singer's Manual of Latin Diction and Phonetics / Robert S. Hines
    MT883 .H55

Russian

  • Russian Songs & Arias: Phonetic Readings, Word-by-Word Translations, and a Concise Guide to Russian Diction /Jean Piatak and Regina Avrashov
    ML54.6 .P58 1991

Spanish

  • A Singer's Manual of Spanish Lyric Diction / Nico Castel
    (see music library reserves)
Books on interpretation of songs and arias

General

  • Sensibility and English Song/ Stephen Banfield
    ML2831 .B35 1985 (2 volumes)
  • Recent American Art Song / Keith E. Clifton
    ML128 .S3 C65 2008
  • A Performer's Guide to Baroque Music / Robert Donington
    ML457 .D65 1974
  • American Art Song and American Poetry (3 vol) /
    Ruth C. Friedberg
    ML2811 .F75
  • Bringing Opera to Life / Boris Goldovsky
    ML1700 .G738 B7
  • Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Vocal Style and Technique / Sally Allis Sanford
    MT823 .S25 1979a
  • A History of Song / ed. Denis Stevens
    ML2800 .S8 1970
  • Interpretive Guide to Operatic Arias / Martial Singher
    MT892 .S5 1983
  • A French Song companion/ Graham Johnson and Richard Stokes
    ML54.6 .J76 F74 2000

Composers (by composer last name)

  • The Poetic Debussy (song texts and letters)
    ML54.6 .D42 C62 1982
  • On the Interpretation of the Melodies of Claude Debussy / Jane Bathori
    MT145 .D4 B413 1998
  • Nineteenth-Century French Son: Fauré, Chausson, Duparc, and Debussy / Barbara Meister
    Interpreting the Songs of Gabriel Fauré / Robert Gartside
    ML410 .F27 G37 1996
  • A Grieg Song Anthology / Ellingboe & Leyerle
    M1620 .G75 E54 1990
  • Interpreting the Songs of Jacques Leguerney/Dibbern et al.
    MT121 .L44 D53 2001
  • Francis Poulenc: The Man and His Songs / Pierre Bernac
    ML410 .P787 B53 1977
  • The Unknown Puccini: A Historical Perspective on the Songs /
    Michael Kaye
    M3.1 .P85 V64 1987
  • Interpreting the songs of Maurice Ravel / Robert Gartside
    ML410 .R23 G37 1992
  • A Singer's Guide to the Songs of Joaquín Rodrigo / Suzanne Draayer
    ML410 .R632 D73 1999
  • Schubert: A Biographical Study of His Songs / Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
    ML410 .S3 F573
  • A Companion to the Schwanengesang / Martin Chusid
    ML410 .S3 C65 2000
  • The Songs of Robert Schumann / Eric Sams 1993
    (see music library reserves)
  • The Songs of Hugo Wolf / Eric Sams
    MT145 .W6 S3 1992