Today’s featured work from the AASR is Climb The Rainbow, from Ten Songs for Soprano and Piano with music and lyrics (respectively) by twins Martin (1945-2019) and Peter Wesley-Smith (1945- ).

Some repertoire stays with us for life. For Jenny Duck-Chong, Margaret Sutherland’s Five Songs was one of the earliest Australian art song cycles she encountered as a student — and one she has continued returning to over many decades of performance.

Among the treasures represented within the Australian Art Song Resource are pieces from Five Songs (1936), a significant cycle by Margaret Sutherland set to the poetry of John Shaw Neilson.

One of the strongest themes emerging from the AASR project is that singers and teachers discover repertoire in two key ways: through the written score, and through listening.

Our AASR surveys revealed that singing teachers are balancing an extraordinary number of factors every time they select repertoire for a student. Difficulty, range, tessitura, score availability, suitability, voice type, recordings, age-appropriateness, cost, accessibility… the list goes on. In fact, 80% of teachers rated score availability as one of the most critical deciding factors - ranking equally with vocal range.

Today’s featured song is Indoor Yachting by Katy Abbott, from Part 1 of her 2013 song cycle The Domestic Sublime. This resource not only encapsulates the suggested repertoire of surveyed teachers, but now includes the Australian Art Songs that we teach ourselves.

From the AASR survey, today’s featured song is Ducks are Delightful by Dulcie Holland. It is found in Australian Poems for Solo, Unison or Two Part Singing. This collection is currently out of print, but is widely available in second hand stores.

We will be showcasing songs from the resource in regular updates. Today’s featured song is Ode to Technology, with music by Martin Wesley-Smith (1945-2017) and lyrics by his twin brother, Peter Wesley-Smith (1945- ).

The AASR reflects the great variety of Australian art song that teachers are using in their studios. To help map this collection, which spans more than a century, the database is divided into three searchable periods: 1900–1949 / 1950–1999 / 2000+ of approximately fifty years duration.

The most frequently cited song in Survey No. 1 of the AASR was Come Sleep by Peggy Glanville Hicks, a beautiful and accessible example of Australian art song written in 1931. So why was it mentioned so often by voice teachers?

The AASR was designed to start conversations. One of the interesting insights from Survey No. 1 of the AASR was that most repertoire mentioned by teachers was not replicated across studios. In other words, many songs appeared only once in the survey taught by individual teachers.

We are thrilled to announce that the first paper on the Australian Art Song Resource (AASR) is now published in Australian Voice. We sing and we write — and as singers and performers who have always explored the composer behind the song, this project has grown from our shared experience and enthusiasm.

Jenny and Nicole give some background to the project.