The Comprehensive Catalogue of Duet Literature for Female Voices: Vocal Chamber Duets with Keyboard Accompaniment Composed between 1820-1995 (review)

Abstract

Vocal duets offer aesthetic and pedagogical rewards to student and professional singers, accompanists, and coaches, yet compared to solo songs and opera ensembles, they are largely neglected and difficult to find. Existing guides are limited or focus on solo voice. Classical Vocal Music in Print (Philadelphia: Musicdata, 1976; supplements, 1986, 1995) provides author and title access, but duets are interfiled with solo songs and are not easily identified by voice specification. The little-known Ernst Challier's grosser Duetten-Katalog: Ein alphabetisch geordnetes Verzeichniss sämmtlicher zweistimmiger Lieder mit Begleitung (Giessen: Ernst Challier, 1898; supplements 1901, 1906, 1911) illuminates the florid vocal-duet literature of the nineteenth century, often by vocal teachers, but offers only title access. Corre Berry Brusse's annotated bibliographies Vocal Chamber Duets and Sacred Vocal Duets (Jacksonville, Fla.: National Association of Teachers of Singing, 1981 and 1987), while helpful for their information on tessitura, range, difficulty level, and literature selection, are out of date and limited in scope.