Works for Solo Voice
A CAPPELLA
These songs were composed expressly for unaccompanied solo voice, and fall into the classical genre. This list does not include the vast repertories of unaccompanied folk songs, mediaeval monophonic plainchants, and troubadour songs.
SOPRANO
Judah Adashi: "Gitanjali Settings" (2003)
Amanda Albrecht: "Cheryl's Lament"
David Amram: "Ophelia's Song" from Four Shakespeare Songs
Hector Armienta: "The Temptress of Rome" (2002)
Peter Aston: "Five songs of crazy Jane"
Pierre Azoury: "To the Memory of a Friend"
Simon Bainbridge: "Folksong" (1989)
Peter Blauvelt: "Cette ratatouille" [soprano or mezzo-soprano]
C. Boone: "Vocalise Soprano"
Timothy Brady: "Walker Songs" (1990)
Gavin Bryars: "Venite a laudare", "Laude novella", "Ave donna santissima", "Regina sovrana", "O Maria, d'omelia", "O Maria, Dei cella", "Ve vergine gaudente", "O Divina virgo flore" from Cycle Lauda Cortonese (2004)
Constance Cooper: "Du Bist Die Ruh' (You Are Rest)" (1980)
Constance Cooper: "In Quelle Trine Morbide (In This Deathly Place)" (1986)
Constance Cooper: "O Del Mio Dolce Ardor (O Of My Sweet Ardor)" (1980)
Constance Cooper: "Eigentum"
James Dillon: "Evening Rain" [soprano or mezzo-soprano]
Paul-Heinz Dittrich: "Singbarer Rest II" [soprano]
J. Dove: "Ariel" [soprano]
Brian Elias: "Peroration" [soprano]
Karl-Axel Falk: "Canto gratia (Vocalise)" (1986)
Morton Feldman: "Only" [soprano]
Michael Finnissy: Song 1; Song 14; Song 15; Song 16
Nicolas Gilbert: "Ce que vit Kenjeke...depuis la colline de Khabarovsk" (2002)
Fredrik Glans: The Princess in The Arena (1995)
Alexander Goehr: "The mouse metamorphosed into a maid", Op. 54
Daron Hagen: The Lord Knows... (from Dear Youth)
George Frideric Handel: "As on a Sunshine Summer's Day", HWV 228/3
Naji Hakim: Missa Resurrectionis (1994)
Josef Haselbach: Abendlied ohne Worte
Michael Head: The Singer (1939)
Robin Holloway: Four Poems of Stevie Smith, Op. 12 (1968)
Robin Holloway: Five Little Songs about Death, Op. 21 (1972-3)
Robin Holloway: Killing Time (1978)
Dorothy Ker: "The Rock, Whatipu" (1990)
Oliver Knussen: Four Late Poems and an Epigram of Rainer Maria Rilke, Op. 23 (1988)
György Kurtág: "Attila Jozsef-Fragments", Op.20 (1981-82)
György Kurtág: Einige Sätze aus den Sudelbüchern Georg Christoph Lichtenbergs, Op. 37 (with or without other instruments)
Thomas Lauck: "Zu fragmentarisch ist Welt und Leben" (1979-80)
Annea Lockwood: "I Give You Back"
David Lumsdaine: "My Sister's Song" (1974)
Carlos Mareco: "Canção de embalar, No. 39 (1999) [can also be sung by mezzo]
David Morris: Sacred Songs [or mezzo-soprano]
Luigi Nono: "Djamila Boupachà", from from Canti di vita e d'amore: Sul ponte di Hiroshima
Luis de Pablo: Surcar vemos da "Tarde de poetas"
Michael Parsons: "Luna, Sirian Air" (1981/82) [female voice]
Mel Powell: Strand settings: darker
Mel Powell: "Letter to a young composer"
Aribert Reimann: "Parerga zu Melusine"
Aribert Reimann: "Lady Lazarus" (1992)
Aribert Reimann: "Vocalise" [coloratura soprano]
Daryl Runswick: Lady Lazarus (1986)
Giacinto Scelsi: Ho "Four Songs" (1960)
Giacinto Scelsi: Taiagaru "Five Invocations"(1962/1964)
David Solomons: "The Quiet Way you move me" (original version)
Mira Spektor: Two Songs on Poems by William Dickey (1999)
Hilary Tann: Arachne
Geirr Tveitt: Eli Sjursdotter syng åt frieren (1965)
William Vollinger: Songs of the Three Miriams
Judith Weir: King Harald's Saga [mono-opera]
Carol Worthey: the petal of somewhere (1963)
MEZZO-SOPRANO or CONTRALTO
Linda Ayers: Another Victim Found in Rubble [monopera]
Michael Berkeley: "O hurry where by waters", from Speaking Silence [orig. for baritone]
Henrik Colding-Jørgensen: 4 Albertsange (1971) [contralto]
Lyell Cresswell: "Words for Music" (1990)
Peter Maxwell Davies: The Medium (1981) (mono-opera)
Paul Dessau: Heine triptych (1974)
Jonathan Dove: "My Love is Mine"
Lars Petter Hagen: "Nudes 1.1" (1997)
Mary Ann Joyce-Walter: "I Sing a Maiden" (1988)
Joan Littlejohn: "No Coward Soul is Mine", No. 15 from The Heights of Haworth (1967-71)
Younghi Pagh-Paan: "ma-am (Mein Herz)" (1990) [contralto or baritone]
Aribert Reimann: "Eingedunkelt" (1992)
Gillian Whitehead: "Pikeri", a Movement from Pao
Paul Zonn: Three Folk Songs of Stephen Crane (1967)
COUNTERTENOR
David Bedford: I thirst for shadows (1998)
Geoffrey Burgon: Dira vi amoris terror (1973)
Sven Hermann: ILI XIV (1999)
Simon Holt: Six Caprices (1998)
Regina Irman: Surdina (1999/2000) [for alto]
John Jeffreys: Songs from "New Brooms"
Alfred Knüsel: "andauernde Veränderung fremdartig" (1993) [for alto; can also be sung by baritone]
Casey Patrick Mongoven: Study in Fibonacci Pitch Class Sets #8 (2001)
Giacinto Scelsi: Three Latin Prayers (1970)
Bernd Schultheis: Agneau de Dieu/Agnus Dei
Balz Trümpy: "Indianisches Lied" [2 versions available, both for male falsettist]
Raymond Yiu: A Whorl of Knowings Dim and Bright (2004)
TENOR
Denis Aplvor: "Fern Hill", Op. 56 (1973)
Charles Davidson: Psalm 114 (2000) [can also be sung by baritone]
Ivy Priaulx Rainier: "Cycle for Declamation" (1953) [or soprano]
Joseph Tal: "Scene from Kafka's Diary 1914" (1981)
BARITONE
Craig Burk: Text for Solo Voice
Charles Davidson: Psalm 114 (2000) [can also be sung by tenor]
Manuel de Elías: "Vocalise" (1994)
Mary Ann Joyce-Walter: "Sea Fever" (1980)
Max E. Keller: "Uf Ärde" (2003)
Alfred Knüsel: "andauernde Veränderung fremdartig" (1993) [can also be sung by alto countertenor]
Dagfinn Koch: "...an die Brüder" (1997)
Teresie Martinová: Pri´re de consecration à la Reine de la paix
Younghi Pagh-Paan: "ma-am (Mein Herz)" (1990) [baritone or contralto]
Aribert Reimann: "Entsorgt after Nicolas Born" (1989)
David Salvage: "Pause Button Excerpt"
Michael Schneider: "Gand" (2005)
Julius Turnage: "Mourned" from Three Songs (2000)
BASS
Jacques Bank: The End, Nos. 1-6 (1992) [bass-baritone]
Juraj Benes: "Fragments of Janko Král"
Giacinto Scelsi: "Wo Ma" (1960)
Giacinto Scelsi: "Maknongan", pour un instrument grave ou voix de basse
Ulpiu Vlad: "Mosaic"
UNSPECIFIED HIGH VOICE
John Cage: "Scene VII" from Four Walls
Stephen Dickman: The music of Eric Zann
Magnar Åm: "Fuglane: Version for One Voice with the Range e - c3" (1971)
Henrik Ødegaard: "Antiphona I: Dominus facit iudicium" (1996)
David Evan Thomas: Petals fallen from the moon (2003)
UNSPECIFIED MEDIUM VOICE
Gary Bachlund: "The Mad Gardener's Song" (2005) [mezzo-soprano or baritone]
Magnar Åm: "Fuglane: Song for One Voice with the Range A - d3" (1971)
Stephen Dickman: The music of Eric Zann
UNSPECIFIED VOICE
Beth Anderson: "Lullaby" (1997)
George Aperghis: "Récitations" (1977-78)
Denis Aplvor: Vox Populi, Op. 58 (1974-75)
Paul Arma (Imre Weisshaus): Hat darab énekhangra kíséret nélkül (Six pieces for solo voice) (1928)
Paul Ayres: "Take, O take those lips away"
Ruth Bakke: "Nonsens 1, 2, and 3" (1990)
Jacques Bank: A very bad Character (1989) [male voice]
Dennis Bathory-Kitsz: The Moon (1992)
Dennis Bathory-Kitsz: Permutrance VII
Luciano Berio: "Sequenza III" (1966) [female voice]
Sylvano Bussotti: "Questo Fauno"
Nigel Butterly: Song of Christ the Rock" (1962, rev. 1984) [male voice]
John Cage: "Experiences II" (1948)
John Cage: "Aria" (1958) [may be done with accompaniment of Fontana Mix]
John Cage: "Solo For Voice 1" (1958)
John Cage: "Solo For Voice 2" (1960)
John Cage: "Sonnekus 2" (1985)
John Cage: "Mirakus2" (1984/1985)
John Cage: "Selkus2" (1984/1985)
John Cage: Sixty-two Mesostics re Merce Cunningham
Ruth Crawford-Seeger: "The Letter"
Jacques Demierre: La colonne brisée - Frida Kahlo (1996) [for female voice]
Stephen Dickman: Quatrains of Rumi (1992) [2 voices]
Violeta Dinescu: "Quatrain" (1996)
David Dram: "I call you on the saprophone" (1988)
Morton Feldman: "Only" (1976) [female voice]
Michael Finnissy: Bouffe
Michael Finnissy: Ohi! ohi! ohi!
David Gilbert: Two unaccompanied songs
Daniel Glaus: "Pater Noster" [female voice]
Vinko Globokar: "Jenseits der Sicherheit"
Vinko Globokar: "Letters" (1994) [female voice]
Vinko Globokar: "Second Thoughts" (1995) [female voice]
Glenn Erik Haugland: "Em som sang" (1988)
Geir Johnson: "Talking/Singing" (1992)
Paul Keenan: Two Songs for unaccompanied voice (1976)
Milko Kelemen: "Die sieben Plagen"
György Kurtág: "Einige Satze aus der Sudelbuchen Georg Christoph Lichtenbergs" (1996)
Giorgos Kyriakakis: Prologue Note or Summary
Joan La Barbara: "Conversations" (1988)
Terje BjØrn Lerstad: "Iris", Op. 5 (1981)
Terje BjØrn Lerstad: "Til Elise Merete", Op. 190B (1988)
Elisabeth Lutyens: "She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep", Op. 131 (1979)
Luzzasco Luzzaschi (d. 1607): Aura soave
Gilda Lyons: "A Small Handful" (2002)
David Macbride: "Alma Mi Alma" (1995)
Kristi Martel: "See You Sweet" (1994) [female]
Georges Migot: Hommage à Thibaut de Champagne (1924) [cycle of 5 songs]
Makiko Nishikaze: Chant I, II, III (1998)
John Mitchell: Two Chants, Op. 45 (1982-83)
Meredith Monk: Songs from the Hill (1977)
Meredith Monk: Light Songs (1988)
Meredith Monk: Volcano Songs (1994)
Meredith Monk: Cat Song
Meredith Monk: String
Frank Morana: Solfeggio for Unaccompanied Voice (2002)
Makiko Nishikaze: Chants I, II, and III
Makiko Nishikaze: Antiphon
Makiko Nishikaze: Psalm funfzehn
Cecilie Ore: "Calliope for Female Voice" (1984)
Paul Paccione: "Song from Catullus" [high voice]
Panaiotis: "Lullaby for Max"
Elizabeth Hayden Pizer: Shakespeare Set (1987) [soprano and/or mezzo-soprano]
Henri Pousseur: "Phonèmes pour Cathy" (1973)
Henri Pousseur: "Pour Baudelaire"
Bernard Rands: "Memo 7" (2000)
Aribert Reimann: Vokalisen für sechs verschiedene Stimmlagen (2006)
R. Robbins: Ave maris stella
Giacinto Scelsi: "Il est grand temps" (1970)
Giacinto Scelsi: "Même si je voyais" (1970)
Giacinto Scelsi: Three Latin Prayers (1970)
Peter Sculthorpe: Landscapes (2001)
Kurt Schwitters: "Ursonate, or Sonate in Urlauten" (1922-1932) [low voice][click here for more audio excerpts]
Adam Silverman: "When Daffodils Begin to Peer" (2000)
Eleanor Smith: "Happy little Alice" from The Music Hour (1928-30)
Igor Stravinsky: Four Russian Peasant Songs (female voice) (1917)
John Tavener: Melina
Virgil Thomson: "Go to Sleep" (1935) [text: Alexander Smallens, Jr.]
Virgil Thomson: "Go to Sleep" (1937) [text: Pare Lorentz]
Virgil Thomson: "Go to Sleep" (1972) [text: Gabriel Liebowitz]
Lasse Thoresen: Helligkvad (1979-1993)
Toby Twining: "The Waking" (1987)
Bjarne Volle: Fødd i går (1980)
William Vollinger: 50 Unaccompanied Songs (1966)
William Vollinger: "unaccompanied people" (1992) - audio files here
William Vollinger: "The Christmas of 1914" (2002)
James Walker: "Take, O take those lips away" (1978)
Joelle Wallach: Up into the Silence (1985)
Richard Walthew: A Song of Love and Death
Gillian Whitehead: Hymn to the Sun (1999)
ALSO NOTEWORTHY
John Cage: "The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs" (1942) [high voice and closed piano]
John Cage: "A Flower" (1950) [voice and closed piano]
John Cage: Sixty-Eight Mesostics re Merce Cunningham (1971) [voice with microphone]
John Cage: "Nowth Upon Nacht" (1984) [voice and closed piano]
Betsy Jolas: "Caprice à une voix" (1975) [piano with no pianist]
Mauricio Kagel: Rrrrrrr... (1981/1982) [soprano or baritone, with or without piano accompaniment]
Dan Locklair: Nursery Problems [soprano, playing pitchpipe, stomping feet, and whistling]
Rosemary Mountain: "Laughter for the Living" [soprano with accompaniment of live birdsongs]
Alejandro Viñao: Hildegard's Dream [soprano with computer]
William Vollinger: A Lesson We Will Not Learn (2003) [soprano with narrator]
Ge-Suk Yeo: Mogsori (2003) [soprano with pocket radio]
Return to Main Repertoire Page