Nathan featured in new Routledge book ‘Welsh Vocal Music’
Welsh Vocal Music: A Guide to Lyric Diction and Repertoire by Rachel Schutz
Nathan and his vocal and choral music has been featured in a new Routledge book - Welsh Vocal Music: A Guide to Lyric Diction and Repertoire - by Dr Rachel Schutz (Singer, Academic, and Assistant Professor of Voice at Ithaca College, New York).
As part of this new book, a range of Nathan’s music is discussed and analysed by Schutz - from his folk settings Pedair Cân o Forgannwg, song for mezzo-soprano the way we go, to his choral music for youth voices, Everything about us and Morals + Interludes.
Welsh Vocal Music: A Guide to Lyric Diction
Singing has long been an integral component of Wales’s culture, identity, and international reputation; alongside the deep traditions of Welsh folksong, the country’s composers have produced a rich body of art music. Welsh Vocal Music introduces readers to the vast vocal repertoire of Wales and provides them with the tools to accurately and confidently sing in the Welsh language.
The first section of the book offers an introduction to Welsh lyric diction, including sounds, spellings, pronunciation rules, and dialects, while the second section provides a guide to notable vocal composers of Wales and their works. A biographical and stylistic overview is provided for each composer, along with a catalogue of and commentary on their important works, including art songs, folk song arrangements, choral music, and opera. IPA transliterations and translations, along with online recordings, provide additional guidance on accurate diction.
Offering a comprehensive description of Welsh lyric diction and uniting author biographies and style guides, Welsh Vocal Music is an ideal resource for professional singers, vocal coaches, conductors, and advanced students looking to perform Welsh music. Providing key contextual information about Wales’s history, language, and traditions, the book invites musicians to explore and celebrate the beauty, variety, and power of the country’s repertoire.
Contemporary Composers: An excerpt
“Dearden’s works are all shaped by context: the performer, space, and commission brief all shape the piece enormously, as of course does the text.”
“Nathan James Dearden is a rising star in the UK new music scene as a composer, conductor, and educator. Originally from Tonyrefail in the Rhondda Valley, he earned both his BMus and MMus from Cardiff University, where in addition to composing, he trained as a baritone. [ … ] Though he has written extensively for instrumental ensembles and orchestra, vocal works make up a large part of Dearden’s output. He has also written installation pieces, works with electronic or fixed media, and is venturing into hyperreality. His style has variously been called postminimalist, maximalist, functionalist, and postromantic, but it is firmly situated in a post-tonal world. Dearden’s works are all shaped by context: the performer, space, and commission brief all shape the piece enormously, as of course does the text. He is attracted to somewhat abstract or minimalist texts that lend themselves to musical enhancement and is never afraid to alter them structurally or lexically to achieve his dramatic or musical aim. Indeed, some texts are so altered that Dearden uses the phrase “After [poet]” to signal these changes. Motifs or gesture frequently serve as the building block for the entire work, and while his pieces employ polytextures and polyrhythms, his training as a singer is reflected in the careful crafting of the voice leading and line. As a whole, his works are difficult but eminently singable.”
BUY AND READ NOW
Released in May 2025, you can now buy your copy of Welsh Vocal Music: A Guide to Lyric Diction and Repertoire by Rachel Schutz from Routledge, Waterstones, WHSmith, and other specialist bookstores.
