German for Musicians

By Josephine Barber

Book Overview

"There can be no doubt that German for Musicians will prove a real asset to every young singer and instrumentalist who needs to become acquainted with the German language, written or spoken." --Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

German for Musicians is an intensive course for beginners, a refresher for those with some German, and a reader for those who need to practice translating musical texts.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 025321260X
• ISBN13: 9780253212603
• Release Date: August 1985
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.2" x 9.3"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Excellent and Unique Resource

Having recently moved to Germany with a smattering of college German, this book has been an excellent help for me as a musician. It is often very difficult to find a concise list or foreign language dictionary of the highly specific vocabulary used by musicians. This book has a fairly thorough list in its reference section, along with: a basic explanation of the German Fach system, a sample contract and application, the Gothic Alphabet (tricky to read at first without a guide), an explanation of musical signs (the note names are the first thing you need to learn, but I had never seen them elsewhere), and a set of basic grammatical tables and charts (irregular verbs, declensions, etc.). But the main content of the book is equally good. The grammar lessons are very clear (clearer than many a German teacher), and contain some good practice exercises (with answers in the rear). Each grammar lesson is followed by a German text related to music, often Lieder texts at first. These add to your vocabulary, and build you into reading letters from composers, opera libretti, and musical treatises. And after the grammar section there is a good selection of texts. It may be difficult to use this book alone to learn German, but alongside a basic German study, it can be extremely helpful for the musician. It gets your foot in the door of reading musical texts and is part of good preparation for anyone studying lieder, interested in performing music in Germany, or studying German music and wanting to look at original texts. An oldie, but a goodie. I have not found another similar book on the market. (Be aware that German spelling rules have changed for modern writing, but are minor and can easily be looked up.)