Resources

• Hyperion

  Hyperion is one of the most enterprising of independent classical music record labels, and has always dedicated a generous portion of its catalogue to vocal music, including complete editions of several composers' songs. Famously, they were the first label to record every song by Franz Schubert, on 37 discs recorded over a period of 18 years. The label has always prided itself on producing liner notes for their recordings which are an education in themselves, and the song discs include full texts, translations and expert commentary, sometimes with copious illustrations. We should be grateful, therefore, that virtually all of these notes are available on the Hyperion website as free-to-download PDFs. Graham Johnson's booklet notes for the Hyperion Schubert Edition have set near-legendary standards of comprehensiveness, insight and elegance, matched only by the same writer's notes on the Schumann, Brahms and Fauré editions. All of these, and more, are available at the click of a mouse. Magic.

  www.hyperion-records.co.uk

• Listening Guides to the Works of Johannes Brahms

  A work-in-progress, and clearly a labour of love, this site is an excellent starting point for an exploration of Brahms's songs, and his music more generally. As well as analytical listening guides, and brief introductions placing each work in the context of Brahms's development, it also presents texts and translations.

  www.kellydeanhansen.com

• The LiederNet Archive

  Created and maintained by the indefatigable Emily Ezust, with contributions from hundreds of volunteers, this site (formerly recmusic.org) is the world's largest online archive of the texts and translations of songs and choral works. The collection is growing all the time, and includes hundreds of thousands of texts, many with multiple translations (which can be handy if you suspect that no one translation is really getting to the heart of the matter). You can search the site by composer and also by poet, use it to find different settings of a given poem, or search for all song/poem titles containing a particular word – all of which makes it a useful resource not just for finding translations but also for planning recital programmes. Do bear in mind, though, that the translations are not in the public domain, and you will need to seek permission before publishing them in any form.

  www.lieder.net