The Standard Cantatas: Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers

The Standard Cantatas: Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers - A Handbook

The Standard Cantatas is the third of the series in which the Standard Operas and Standard Oratorios have been its predecessors. Of necessity, therefore, the same method has been followed in the arrangement and presentation of the authors scheme. As in the works above mentioned, short sketches of the music and stories of the cantatas are presented, together with biographies of their composers, some of which are reproduced from the other volumes with slight changes, the repetitions being necessary for the sake of uniformity. The sketches are prefaced by a comprehensive study of the cantata in its various forms, from its early simple recitative or aria style down to its present elaborate construction, which sometimes verges closely upon that of the opera or oratorio. The word cantata is so flexible and covers such a wide area in music, that it has been a work [4] of some difficulty to decide upon the compositions that properly come within the scheme of this volume. During the past two centuries it has been variously applied to songs, like those of the early Italian school; to ballads, like those of the early English composers; to concert arias, like those of Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn; to short operettas, dramatic scenas, cycles of ballads, and even to oratorios, whose subjects are more or less dramatic. It is believed, however, that the most important of the modern cantatas are included in the volume, and with them will be found several works, such as the Damnation of Faust and the Romeo and Juliet vocal symphony and others, which, though not in the strict cantata form, are nevertheless compositions belonging to the concert-stage for voices and orchestra, performed without scenery, costumes, or stage accessories. The author has paid particular attention to cantatas by American composers, and has selected for description and analysis those which in his estimation rank the highest in musical merit. It would be manifestly impossible to include in a volume of the present size all the compositions by Americans which have been called cantatas, for their number is well-nigh legion. Those have been selected which are creditable to American musical scholarship and are making a name for American music. It is possible some have been omitted which fulfil these conditions; if so, it is only because they have not come within the authors observation. The [5] Appendix has been a work of great care, labor, and research, and wherever it was practicable the date of each cantata was verified. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 32248
Author: Upton, George P. (George Putnam)
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Format: eBook
Language: English