This thesis presents extended program notes for a seventy-minute vocal graduate recital consisting of the following repertoire for tenor: Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata Ich armer Mensch ich Sündenknecht; two songs from the eighteenth-century Spanish collection Tonadillas Escénicas; Gaetano Donizetti's song La derniére nuit d'un novice; Francis Poulenc's song cycle Tel jour telle nuit; Jake Heggie's song cycle Friendly Persuasions; and John Corigliano's Three Irish Folk Songs for Flute and Tenor. Spanning four centuries of music and representing four different language traditions, these works are sufficiently representative of the tenor repertoire. The content of this thesis features detailed information on these works through historical study, and musical analysis.
