Encyclopedia of the Voice

Fundamental reference work with over 50 top-class authors.

Encyclopedia of the Voice
History – Scientific Foundations – Vocal Techniques – Interpreters

Ann-Christine Mecke / Martin Pfleiderer / Bernhard Richter / Thomas Seedorf (ed.)
With a foreword by Thomas Hampson
800 pages with 174, partly coloured illustrations and 24 examples of sheet music. Linen with dust jacket.
Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2016

€ 98, – (subscription price until 31.3.2017; afterwards approx. € 118, -)
(Instrumenten-Lexika 5)
ISBN 978–3–89007–546–4

Wolfgang Saus (photo Eva Haslinger)

I am very pleased that I was able to participate in this work of the century with a contribution to overtone singing (p. 450-452). The book is a fantastic time saver, I’ve been waiting a long time for that. Nowhere else can you find the key statements of top-class experts so quickly. Not even the Wikipedia can keep up with this, because the vocal-related terms are very scattered and not written so concisely. The encyclopedia has been compiled by the currently leading German authors for voice, with very clever and consistent cross-references.

I already have a few books on the voice, anatomy, acoustics and singing technique that I never read completely, but rather consult on individual questions. I now read all these books much more efficiently if I look up the core statements in the lexicon beforehand. Although the encyclopedia weighs 2.5 kg, I have had it with me on all my train rides ever since it was published, because I have never been able to learn so much about the voice in such a short time. The lexicon is worth more than its price. Often you don’t really need a whole textbook and find the essence of all terms in one place.

The book will be an important contribution to the more uniform use of technical terms in the singing world. Finally you can discuss some of the often somewhat vague topics on an equal level. Vocal pedagogy is very enriched by the book.

I can highly recommend this book to anyone who has to do with the singing voice, whether vocal professional, choir singers, teachers or vocalists.

Everything about the world’s oldest instrument –
The singing voice in a unique reference book

This comprehensive encyclopaedic reference work provides information about the oldest musical instrument in human history: the human voice. By approaching this phenomenon from a completely new angle and at the same time addressing all the manifestations of singing, the encyclopedia of singing voice finally closes a long existing gap in music literature.

Physiological aspects, such as anatomy of the (singing) voice and vocal training, are treated in detail as well as the different types of voices and vocal techniques. “Singing is a noble art and practice” Martin Luther already stated in his after-dinner speeches. Accordingly, questions of vocal pedagogy and the art of performance are given just as much importance as the field of church music and the various developments in choral music.

Laaber-Verlag

The “Lexikon der Gesangsstimme” is aimed at a wide range of readers: singers and other musicians, singing teachers, musicologists, vocal doctors, vocal therapists, speakers, media representatives and amateurs interested in singing. The lexicon covers a wide range of topics and seeks to link the current state of knowledge in various disciplines (vocal pedagogy, phoniatrics, phonetics, anatomy, vocal physiology, musicology, and historical and systematic musicology).

Stuttgarter Stimmtage

Further publications by Wolfgang Saus

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