Mezzo-soprano Hoover (Univ. of Hawai'i at Mānoa; board member, Latin American Art Song Alliance), along with six supporting contributors (including the founder of LAASA), has constructed this guide to 20th-century Latin American art songs. Designed for singers and voice teachers wishing to investigate this literature, the main body of the work is 22 chapters, one for each of the 22 Latin American countries surveyed. Each chapter has a 'brief introduction to the region... followed by an annotated catalog of compositions organized alphabetically by composer.' Over half of these pages are taken up by the chapters on Argentina and Brazil. Several countries have just over a page of introduction and a handful of songs; a few have just one song. The volume includes a preface, introduction, bibliography, indexes, appendixes, and notes. The 'List of Publishers' might prove useful in locating the songs. Hoover states that this is a 'representative' rather than a 'definitive' book
a starting point for investigating the literature. No similar work exists, and most general Latin American music guides are years, even decades old. Summing Up: Recommended. Practitioners and collections serving vocal music programs; lower-level undergraduates and above.
Choice J. L. Patterson, University of Wisconsin
Eau Claire, December 2010 "Hoover, along with six supporting contributors (including the founder of LAASA), has constructed this guide to 20th-century Latin American art songs.... No similar work exists, and most general Latin American music guides are years, even decades old.... Recommended." —Choice "[Hoover] has made an important contribution to the study and performance of Latin American art song—and indeed, to art song in general—with this publication. Singers who are interested in exploring new repertoire should investigate this book, and teachers who are looking for new song literature will find the volume useful as well." —Journal of Singing, Vol. 67 No. 2, 2010 "This reference work is a tremendous resource for anyone interested in the Latin American art song repertoire. The fact that it lists so many composers and compositions, how to obtain them, along with voice ranges and types, truly makes this book practical and necessary for research discovery and planning in the academic music disciplines." —Reference Reviews, Vol. 25, No. 1, 2011 "Maya Hoover’s guide to the Latin American art song repertoire will be a welcome addition to any music library reference collection or to the voice teacher’s bookshelf. The only resource of its kind, the volume introduces the reader to a wealth of contemporary classical vocal repertoire from twenty-two Latin American countries." —Music Reference Services Quarterly