Includes brief biography and song-by-song critical commentary. Includes bibliographical references.
Contents:
Individual songs. The alternative ; Beloved ; Beyond the sunset ; From the valley ; Fury of the sea ; God's promise ; Hope dreams ; Hush-a-by, sweetie ; I dreamed ; If you loved me ; In Flanders' fields ; Jest a wearyin' fer you ; The long day ; Mother o' mine ; No voice but yours ; Oh, bring me love! ; Red rose ; Son of my heart ; A wayside prayer ; West of the sun -- Song sets. Two songs (I took a thought ; When we met) ; Three songs of love. (Hidden in your heart ; Give me your hands ; Come back to me) ; Four little love songs (Before you came ; For you and me ; So great our love ; Yesterday, to-day, to-morrow!) -- Sacred songs. Breaks the morning ; He giveth his beloved sheep ; Thou blessed man of God -- Theatre and film songs. Little wild rose (from The dairymaids) ; The bold dragoon (from The dashing little duke) ; When I am all your own (from The Balkan princess) ; Sweet Nell (from the opening of the Plaza Theatre, London) ; Chanson Algerian (from Beau Geste) ; Our crystal wedding day (from Hassard Short's Ritz revue).
Summary:
The Songs of Frank E. Tours is a new collection of thirty-eight previously published songs by the leading composer ballads in the twentieth century. Tours' songs for voice and piano were central to the development of the British and American ballad tradition and occupy a middle ground between the Victorian ballad and post-Romantic art song. This facsimile edition makes his finest songs available for the first time in one volume along with a biography, critical commentary, and detailed information on his career in the music industry. Prepared in collaboration with the production division at A-R Editions, this handsome volume presents the life and work of Frank E. Tours in a definitive edition that will become an essential resource for anyone seeking to study and perform his music. Tours' romantic and spiritual ballads were composed with impeccable craftsmanship and offer voice students and teachers in particular a body of songs in English that are expressive, challenging, and meaningful. We believe this book will make a significant contribution to British and American song literature, not only by reintroducing Tours' music to the public, but also by bringing attention to the ballad tradition itself, which has been overlooked since World War II. Frank E. Tours was a leading music director for operettas and musicals during the first half of the twentieth century. Throughout his career as a conductor, he was also a prolific composer of songs for voice and piano. Over a thirty-year period, he set more than seventy lyrics to music, while most of his evenings were spent in the orchestra pits of London's West End and Broadway. - Publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.