3An anthology unlike any other, The Ring of Words assembles lyrics of the most famous art songs of Europe with literal line-by-line English translations printed on the facing pages. The editor-translator, a renowned music scholar and critic, has contributed an introductory essay on the relationship between lyrics and music, as well as notes on each poet and on the composer or composers who set each poem to music.

Here are over three hundred poems by such writers as Heine, Goethe, Ibsen, Villon, Verlaine, D'Annunzio, and Pushkin. Among the composers represented are Schubert, Wolf, Brahms, Beethoven, Liszt, Ravel, and Tchaikovsky; a brief critical evaluation of each song is included, with notes on textual variations or omissions. The Ring of Words brings together a repertory of songs well known to every collector of recordings and everyone who attends concerts and recitals. It is a valuable reference work for students and teachers of singing.