As of October 2020, the Leatherby Libraries, in partnership with the College of Performing Arts, is happy to offer Chapman and Brandman University students and faculty access to the Art Song Transpositions Database. The database offers professionally crafted scores of art songs and arias as well as vocal repertoire from operas, choral works, and musical theatre in any key. Users may also request new transpositions if a song they desire is not already available.

Users may access the database directly at https://chapman.libguides.com/art_songs_transpositions and through the Database A-Z list, using their Chapman or Brandman credentials to login.

White and yellow text on a black background that reads, "Art Song Transpositions Institutional"

The Art Song Transpositions Database logo

Performing Arts librarian Taylor Greene shared with us more details about what this database has to offer, particularly for Performing Arts students:

“Not all singers’ voices are the same, and one of the ways they vary is in the keys that best suit each particular singer’s voice. However, no one wants to be limited just to the songs and arias that happened to be published in a specific key! That is why the Leatherby Libraries and the College of Performing Arts have teamed up to provide access to Art Song Transpositions.

Art Song Transpositions not only has a unique database with an enormous amount of repertoire already available in different keys, but it also features an on-demand transposition service if a desired work is not already available in a particular key.

From their website:

Art Song Transpositions is the first publishing company to offer professionally crafted scores of art songs, arias, and musical theatre titles in any key. Our publications are exquisitely designed, meticulously sourced, and edited by professional musicians whose performance experience totals over one hundred years..

A little-known feature of this service is that you can even request a song to be re-engraved in its original key. So, if you find an obscure song or aria that seems to only exist in an old, hard-to-read edition, you can have Art Song Transpositions create a clear, easy-to-read version. Just keep in mind that this database relies entirely on works that are in the public domain.

You can even use this database to browse for repertoire!”

Many thanks to the College of Performing Arts for partnering with the Leatherby Libraries to make this database available for the entire Chapman community.

If you’re interested in learning more about this database and how to use it, reach out to Taylor Greene to schedule an Individual Research Consultation, or IRC, which all of our subject liaison librarians offer to assist students and faculty with their research needs.