The Book of Lieder

This unique volume contains, in parallel translation, a thousand of the most frequently performed Lieder, both piano-accompanied and orchestral. Composers are arranged alphabetically, with their songs appearing under poet in chronological order of composition - thus allowing the reader to engage in depth with a particular poet and at the same time to follow the composer's development. Richard Stokes, whose work in this field is already widely acclaimed, provides illuminating short essays on each of the fifty composers' approach to Lieder composition, as well as well as notes on all the poets who inspired the songs. The volume is notable for the accuracy and elegance of its translations, and for its fidelity to the German verse: every care has been taken to print the words of the sung text, while adhering to the versification and punctuation of the original poem. Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann, Goethe, Heine and Schiller are among the highlights of a book which illuminates one of the great musical traditions and will be an indispensable handbook for every music lover.

Ian Bostridge is universally recognised as one of the greatest Lieder interpreters of today. He has made numerous award-winning recordings of opera and song, and gives recitals regularly throughout Europe, North America and the Far East to outstanding critical acclaim. On stage, he was the original Caliban in Thomas Adès's The Tempest, and he played Gustav von Aschenbach in the landmark 2007 production of Death in Venice directed by Deborah Warner. In 1999 he gave the premiere of Hans Werner Henze's song cycle, Sechs Gesänge aus dem Arabischen, which was specially written for him, and which was subsequently recorded. He read Modern History at Oxford and received a D.Phil in 1990 on the significance of witchcraft in English public life from 1650 to 1750. His books include Witchcraft and its Transformations c.1650 to c.1750 (1997), A Singer's Notebook (2011) and Schubert's Winter Journey (2015). He is Humanitas Professor of Music at Oxford, and a regular contributor to the Guardian and the TLS. He is married to the writer and critic Lucasta Miller, and they live in London with their two children., Ian Bostridge is universally recognised as one of the greatest Lieder interpreters of today. He has made numerous award-winning recordings of opera and song, and gives recitals regularly throughout Europe, North America and the Far East to outstanding critical acclaim. His books include A Singer's Notebook (Faber, 2011) and the award winning Schubert's Winter Journey (Faber, 2016). He was Humanitas Professor of Music at Oxford 2014/15 and has been a regular contributor to newspapers and journals in the UK and US including the Financial Times and the New York Review of Books.