Notes

Introduction
-In Italy, the cantata evolved through:

Monody  Arie Passegiate & Stile Recitative  Strophic, Da Capo, & Motto Aria
-High Baroque (1650-1750)
-Enormous development in vocal music
-Paved way for Bel Canto style
-Art Song & Opera
High Baroque in England

-Musical stagnation up to 1750
-Polyphonic lute song didn’t evolve to more sophisticated forms
-English composers mostly wrote for court and theater
-John Blow (1648-1708) – Venus and Adonis
First English Opera
-Henry Purcell – Later 17th century
-English loved Italian culture at turn of the century
-German-born, Italian-trained Georg Friedric Handel ruled English music
High Baroque in Germany

-Monody arrived before 1620 (Le Nuove Musiche printed in German)
-Johann Nauwach – “Libro prima di aria passegiate” (1623)
-Germans imitated Italian style
-Big contributors
-Heinrich Schütz
-International Significance
-Studied w/ Gabrielli
-Large Collections (Symphoniae Sacrae)
-Emphasize text according to ideals of monody, repetition common
-Thomas Selle
-Heinrich Albert
-Formal solo vocal literature tended to be sacred until ~1720
High Baroque in France

-Chanson au luth (“Lute Song”)
-1605-1615 – Gabriel Bataille published Airs de different autheurs mis en tablature au luth.
-Similar to English lute song
-Italian monody replaced lute song ~1645
-Less pathos
-Fewer discords
-Stricter form
-Name changes – Air de cours
-Theme of intellectualism over emotionalism
High Baroque in Spain

-Imitated Italy & France
-Songs derived from instrumental forms rather than uniquely conceived for voice
THE BIG FOUR: PURCELL, VIVALDI, HANDEL, BACH
I. Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
-Lived in England
-Italian literature known in England by 1679
-Manuscript dedicated to Duke of Norfolk
-Works of Cesti, Carissimi, Rossi, Stradella, and others
-Pulled music away from polyphonic lute song
-Enormous number of songs
-Mostly as incidental music for plays, odes, welcome songs, birthday songs
-Masque
-Operatic Contribution – Dido and Aeneas
-Written for a girls school
-Orpheus Brittanicus
-Collected works of Purcell
-Published in 3 volumes posthumously by wife
-1698
-1702
-1721
-~275 vocal works
-107 solo songs
-148 theatrical songs
-20 sacred songs
-several duets
-Song forms
-Strophic
-Through-Composed
-Strove to attain expressive language in song
-Unique qualities
-Inverted Rhythms
-Melodic Leaps
-Dissonance
-Appoggiatura
-Ground-Bass
-Motivic Development
II. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

-Studied w/ Legrenzi
-Trained and ordained as priest
-Musician from 1704 to death
-Works
-49 operas (composed for Venice, Rome, Florence, & Verona)
-450 concertos
-23 sinfonias
-75 trio & solo sonatas
-numerous vocal works (cantatas, oratorios, motets)
-Cantatas evolve logically & predictably in succession of Italian cantatas
-Loosely follow Scarlatti’s Neapolitan form
-Cantata Breakdown
-22 Soprano + Continuo
-8 Contralto + Continuo
-5 Soprano + Continuo + Instruments
-4 Contralto + Continuo + Instruments
-1 Lost Manuscript (Cantata or Motet)
-Scholars continue to discover more works
-Music used illustratively and vocalism very remote from ideals of monody
III. Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759)

-Also went by George Frideric Handel and Georg Friederich Hendel
-Born in Halle, Germany, studied in Italy, mainly lived in England
-Wrote 9 arias in Germany before leaving for Italy
-Mastered opera seria in Italy
-Took advantage of England’s love for Italian music
-Astute businessman
-Wrote 43 operas in Italian while in England
-Created English oratorio
-Combined elements of opera with choral works
-Soloists as characters
-Prominent SATB chorus
-Most literature comes from operas (Italian) and oratorios (English)
-72 solo cantatas
-Mirror Scarlatti’s legacy
-Most for soprano or contralto
-4 for male voice
IV. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

-Less money, more children, than Handel
-Worked in many places, mainly in the church
-Few secular songs
-Bist du bei mir likely written by Anna Magdelena Bach (second wife)
-Cannot strictly be said to be a contributor to song literature
-Most solo vocal literature comes from church cantatas and passions
-Cantata evolved from Lutheran liturgical traditions rather than Italian monody
-Cantata as a part of worship service
-Wrote 204 of them (mostly sacred)
-Mostly for soloist + chorus, 19 solo cantatas
-Cantata Breakdown
-4/5 for Soprano
-4/1 for alto
-1 for tenor
-3/1 for bass
-Secular cantatas represent miniature opera
-Clear influence from Italy
Henry Purcell – Listening
-Expressive language in songs
-Inverted rhythms (short note precedes long note in uneven pattern)
-Melodic leaps
-Dissonance
-Appoggiatura (“sighing” ornamentation)
-Ground bass (bass melody played repeatedly)
-Motivic development
Antonio Vivaldi – Listening

-Aria does not bear resemblance to Caccini’s monody (125 years later)
-Identify form
-How are melodic figures used to illustrate text?
Georg Friederich Händel – Listening

-First listening – German aria before Italy
-Italian accompanimental style
-Singer + continuo (harpsichord + cello)
-Obbligato violin
-Second listening – Cantata
-Note performing forces
-What is the form?
-Third listening – Oratorio
-What is the form?
Johann Sebastian Bach – Listening

-Secular cantata similar to opera
-Da Capo + Recitative/Arioso patters
-What recitative & aria elements are in the excerpt?
-What do you notice about the repetition of the text?
Sidebar – Italian
-Vivaldi’s generation
-Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)
-Would have been premiere Rococo composer had he lived longer
-Works reflect elegance & tunefulness of Mozart
-Cantatas anticipated dual-subject principle of Classical style
-Cantata form peaked after 1740 and began to decline
-Overshadowed by opera
-Carried abroad by Italians elsewhere
-Nicolo Piccini (1728-1800) in Paris
-Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816) in St. Petersburg & Paris
-Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) in St. Petersburg & Vienna
Sidebar – German
-Dietrich Buxtehüde (1637-1707)
-Latin & German
-Lutheran texts
-Less sophisticated than Bach
-36 solo cantatas
-Georg Phillipe Telemann (1681-1767)
-40 operas
-12 liturgical year cycles of cantatas (55/cycle)
-44 passions
-Over 3000 vocal works
-Lighter and More Italianate style than Bach
-Less technically demanding
Sidebar – French
-Tragédie Lyrique
-Overshadowed solo song
-Lully (1632-1687)
-Pioneered solo song
-Rameau (1683-1764)
-Seven solo cantatas
-Heavily influenced by Scarlatti
-Chansons names
-Brunettes
-Chanson à boire
-Air tendre
-Air sérieux
-Air de cours
-Romance
-Pastourelles
-Bergerettes
-Vaudeville
Vocabulary
1. Masque – One of the predecessors of grand opera, the masque was a form of court
entertainment popular in England in the 17th century. The masque was characterized by
elaborate scenery, poetry, music, speeches, dances, and direct discourse and flirtation
with the audience by the performers.
2. Opera seria – Italian opera of the 18th and 19th centuries that was either heroic or tragic.
3. Orpheus Brittanicus – a collection of songs by Henry Purcell, published posthumously in
London in two volumes.
4. Chanson au luth – French lute song from the High Baroque
5. Reformation – A movement in the Catholic church where many different sects broke off
including Lutheran, Presbyterian, and others.
6. Tragédie lyrique – A genre of French opera introduced by Lully with stories usually
based on Classical mythology or romantic Italian epics.

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Introduction

-In Italy, the cantata evolved through:

High Baroque in England

High Baroque in Germany

High Baroque in France

High Baroque in Spain

II. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

III. Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759)

IV. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Antonio Vivaldi – Listening

Georg Friederich Händel – Listening

Johann Sebastian Bach – Listening

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