As its title connotes, More Than Singing is not only about music and proper vocal techniques but about life and the transcendent power of art. It is an invaluable guide for any aspiring singer of lieder, but will interest all who seek a deeper understanding and fuller appreciation of the world's great music.
Lotte Lehmann was one of the most eminent lyric-dramatic sopranos of the early twentieth century, especially noted for her passionate and sensitive renderings of lieder. In this volume, she distills a lifetime of work, research and experience into concise, revealing lessons in the interpretation of songs by Schubert, Brahms, Haydn, Schumann, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Wolf, Richard Strauss, Mahler, Debussy, Fauré, Tchaikovsky and other masters.
"Only that is convincing which is truly felt," asserts the author, and in this ,nsightful and inspiring manual, she illuminates the subtleties of tempo, phrasing, enunciation - even the proper pose, facial expressions and gestures - that enable singers to plumb the true depths of the song and give poem and music their deepest meanings. Lovers of lieder will especially appreciate Lotte Lehmann's inspired interpretations of complete song cycles, Schubert's Die Winterreise, Die schöne Müllerin, Schumann's Dichterliebe, and others.
In guiding vocalists through the beauties and complexities of lieder, with their recurring themes of love, loss, pain and suffering, joy, melancholy and death, the author counsels strict avoidance of sentimentality to preserve the grandeur of the lied. Similarly, singers are frequently advised to "lift out each syllable," to avoid "gliding and scooping," and to devote themselves to inner preparation for the song: "You should never begin a song without first imagining the story which underlies it and ... you should never end a song without considering the continuation of the story which goes beyond the ending of the song."
In an affectionate and admiring foreword, the great conductor Bruno Walter added his voice to the chorus of friends and students who welcomed the first publication (1945) of this book: "Dear Lotte! ... Who could better speak of the Lied than you who have such a deep understanding of its nature and the demands of its style? Who can give wiser advice to the younger generation of singers?" Readers of this new Dover edition of her work will indeed find the great soprano an unsurpassed mentor in the art of bringing deep personal expression to scores of magnificent art songs.
Unabridged Dover (1985) republication of the edition published by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., New York, 1945. Statement by Bruno Walter. Foreword by the author.
