The Cambridge Companion to Singing (Cambridge Companions to Music)
This excellent, single-volume resource aspires to be a comprehensive study of singing throughout history. That it succeeds as well as it does is a remarkable accomplishment. Potter (music, Univ. of York, U.K.) has gathered essays from a wide variety of (mostly British) performers, teachers, and musicologists. Rather than attempting a chronological arrangement, the chapters have been grouped into four loosely connected areas.  Popular Traditions  looks at vocal styles seldom covered in books on vocal history: an essay by David Troop on the origins and development of rap, chapters on singing in jazz and rock music, and an intriguing look at vocal traditions in world music.  The Voice in the Theater  and  Choral Music and Song  cover more familiar territory but do it succinctly and thoroughly. The final section,  Performance Practice,  again broadens the scope, with chapters on vocal pedagogy; the training and use of children!s voices; vocal acoustics;  Alternative Voices: Contemporary Vocal Techniques,  which reveals the new demands placed on singers by 20th-century composers; and the use of electronic enhancement as an expressive device. This unique volume is highly recommended for its depth of coverage, uniformly accessible writing, and very reasonable price."Kate McCaffrey, Onondaga Cty. P.L., NYCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.