Song cycles

Music Cataloging at Yale [1] ♪ General music cataloging resources [2]

From the New Grove dictionary of music and musicians:

Song cycle:

• a composite form of vocal music consisting of a group of individually complete songs
• for solo or ensemble voices
• with or without instrumental accompaniment
• may relate a series of events, or a series of impressions, or may simply be a group of songs unified by mood
• the texts may be by a single author or from several sources

LC examples:

The form is stated explicitly in the title statement:

89-751995
245 10 An Mauern hin : a song-cycle based on the poetry by G. Trakl / Christoph Campestrini.

92-768274
245 10 Bald sing' ich das Schweigen : ein Liederzyklus für Gesang und Klavier, Opus 79 / Gottfried von Einem ; nach Gedichten von Lotte Ingrisch.

90-753355
245 10 An Mauern hin : Zyklus für Sopran und Orchester nach Gedichten von Georg Trakl (1887/88) / Christoph Campestrini.

88-751683
245 10 Cäsar Flaischlen-Zyklus : für eine mittlere Singstimme und Klavier, komponiert 1926 / Karl Höller.

85-751907
245 10 --and waken green : a cycle of songs for medium voice and piano / seven poems by Douglas Worth ; music by David Ward-Steinman.

86-750135
245 10 Arcobaleno : a cycle of seven songs for bass / Rocco DiGiovanni ; poetry by Nicola Rossi-Lemeni.

94-702002
245 02 A cycle for voice and percussion / words by Emily Dickinson ; music by Dawn LaBuy.

92-752760
245 10 Adjustable tears : 1977 : a cycle of three blues for soprano, clarinet & bass / [words and music by] Meyer Kupferman.

92-757398
245 10 Aftonland : sangsyklus til dikt av Pär Lagerkvist : for soprano (or tenor) and chamber ensemble / Arne Nordheim.

95-702430
245 00 Concertino pre flautu a sláč. orchester ; Ako padajú hviezdy : cyklus piesni na slová P. Koyša, op. 31 ; Portréty : pre organ / A. Očenáš.

The form is not stated in the title statement:

When the word "cycle" or phrase "song cycle" or an equivalent is not stated in the title, generally LC adds a note to that effect and a corresponding subject heading.

84-760395
245 10 Five lyrics of Louise Bogan : for mezzo-soprano and flute / Warren Benson.
500     Song cycle.

92-753987
245 14 The Auden poems : for voice, violin, cello, and piano / Ned Rorem.
500      Song cycle.

92-753900
245 10 Between two worlds / [words by] Robert Bly and Jacob Boehme ; [music by] John Harbison.
500     Song cycle for soprano, 2 violoncellos, and 2 pianos.

97-701931
245 10 Afschied van een landschap : voor stem en (bas-)klarinet (1994) / Alex Manassen.
500     Song cycle for high voice and piano.

When the title a publisher has given to a collection of songs by one composer implies or states that it is a song cycle and it was not the intent of the composer for the songs to form a song cycle, do not use the subject heading "Song cycles."

93-722531
100 1   Rooth, Anna-Greta, 1901-1993.
240 10 Songs. Selections
245 10 4 sånger till dikter av Gabriela Mistral : röst och piano / Anna-Greta Rooth ; [tolkning, Hjalmar Gullberg].
650  0  Songs (Medium voice) with piano.