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Abstract
Art song, as a genre, presents significant interpretative problems for the singer. While musical intuition is, by far, the most important interpretative tool, singers can benefit from Edward T. Cone's idea of the persona from The Composer's Voice, since analysis using this theory can lead to fresh and musically supported interpretations. This project will contain three components: 1) a thorough examination of Edward T. Cone's idea of the persona as it applies to art song; 2) a practical guide for singers that explains how to identify and analyze the different personas of songs, and 3) sample analyses that utilize this practical guide using standard undergraduate song repertoire. It is my hope that, through this project, singers may gain an analytical tool that allows them to synthesize analysis and interpretation in order to create compelling performances of art song.