Brian Thorsett Editor (1 results)

Paperback. Condition: New. The Songs of Frank E. Tours is a new collection of thirty-eight previously published songs by the leading composer of 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.