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This article concerns 'singable translations' intended for performance in the target language. Translators have often assumed that a song-translation must rhyme as much as the original, and equally well. This false assumption underlies their poor strategic thinking, and prevents them from doing justice to four other aspects of the complex task: sense and naturalness (which are requirements of normal translating), plus rhythm and singability. No wonder singers often reject their efforts as unusable. Quoting the great composer-librettist Wagner, and some 20th century song-translators such as Drinker and Kelly, the paper highlights the need for flexibility, notably in the frequency and quality of rhymes. A score-sheet is proposed for evaluating not only true rhymes but also near-rhymes, which should be part of every song-translator's toolbox. The article ends with a comparative evaluation of three English versions of part of a Schubert song. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides ways for singers to recognize the different types of translations needed for various functions and to assists translators to create them. The five functions of translation are performer's crib, recording insert, program text, spoken text and sung text. Strategies on how to approach each function are proposed. Likewise, books and their brief description as reference to be used by singers who are studying foreign-language songs are presented.

Focuses on Gabriel Faure's "Cinq Melodies de Venise" written in 1891 to texts by Paul Verlaine. Claim that many singers commit a significant mistake when they perform this song; Reason for restoring Verlaine's text in "A Clymene"; Occurrence of the conjunction "puisque" as the poet/lover speaks to Clymene of her various charms; Suggestion that "A Clymene" was a text less suitable for musical setting than other Verlaine poems.

The making of singable translations of songs is a complex task, chiefly because the target text must be compatible with the pre-existing music. This article discusses strategies for doing this, and recommends what the author calls 'the pentathlon principle' — a deliberate balancing of five different criteria, identified as singability, sense, naturalness, rhyme, and rhythm. It urges translators to consider the specific characteristics of each song-text, and warns against any general apriori view that identifies a single feature as absolutely sacrosanct: the more margins of compromise are available, the greater chance ora successful target text. The practical examples are translations into English of a German Lied (art song) and of a French popular song. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]