Jane Manning, a leading singer of 20th century music, has chosen over 70 songs to serve the singer as an introduction to contemporary vocal music. She briefly describes each song and gives advice on its performance, showing where potential problems lie and how best to approach them. Around 100 music examples illustrate the text.

Jane Manning also makes suggestions on how to programme each piece in a concert. An appendix indicated from where scores can be obtained.

This book is useful both as a guide to choosing repertory and as a tutor on the practicalities of performance.