Product Description

A much-needed guide for singers, vocal coaches, voice teachers, collaborative pianists, and opera and choral conductors. Practical and authoritative, Part One of this pioneering book takes the reader systematically through each sound of the Czech language, enhanced by a recording of native Czech opera singers. The formation of each sound is described, and when useful, compared to English, the Romance languages, German, and Russian. Every sound is assigned an IPA symbol, along with exercises and examples, always with the technical and expressive considerations of the singing voice in mind.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #707991 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Customer Reviews

Czech with Cheek
From Sir Charles Mackerras, writer of the foreword:
"I recommend Timothy Cheek's book "Singing in Czech" to anyone interested in singing the works of Smetana, Dvorak, Janacek, and a host of other Czech composers in the original language. After very thorough descriptions of every sound found in the Czech language, Mr. Cheek analyses and gives phonetic representations of the correct sounds in Czech of many famous works, including "Rusalka", "The Bartered Bride", "The Diary of One Who Vanished", and many others. I hope the book will be studied by every singer and repetiteur who cares about language and who regards Czech, with its rich musical repertoire, as important as Italian, German, French, or Russian."

From Dr. John Tyrrell, Executive Editor of "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition; author of "Czech Opera" and "Janacek's Operas":
"I cannot imagine the subject being better treated. It's not often that one gets such a balance of practical common sense and theoretical underpinning. What I particularly liked was the wonderful blend of knowledge, experience, precision and enthusiasm. I was fascinated by the discussion of the various pronunciation possibilities and the occasions when one might be more appropriate than another. What will be particularly useful to experienced singers will be the constant comparisons with other languages, and the many practical suggestions for ways of overcoming problems particular to Czech.
This is clearly the work of a born teacher with considerable experience in coaching singers new to the Czech language. It is very clearly expressed and so well organized that someone seeking guidance on a particular point will be able to find it without difficulty. The supplementary sections of the book are equally well judged and will be invaluable in providing good basic information about Czech song literature (what there is and how to track it down). Altogether this is an outstanding achievement."