Handbook to Bach's Sacred Cantata Texts

Handbook to Bach's Sacred Cantata Texts
Author: Melvin P. Unger
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 796
Release: 1996-04-16
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1461659051

The German church cantata of the eighteenth century was the culmination of a long tradition of Lutheran "sermon music" that used the proclamation, amplification, and interpretation of scripture to teach and persuade the listener. Bach's cantatas also served this didactic purpose and typically incorporate numerous allusions to scriptural passages or themes in their librettos. Unfortunately, many of these passages remain obscure to the twentieth-century musician because they demand a much closer familiarity with the Bible than is common today. The Handbook to Bach's Sacred Cantata Texts identifies scriptural references for the wording, imagery, and themes that Bach's listeners would have known. In addition, the religious or literary theme of each text is summarized within the specific context of the cantata as a whole. With interlinear translations and a full complement of indexes.

An Introduction to Bach Studies

An Introduction to Bach Studies
Author: Daniel R. Melamed
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 202
Release: 1998-04-30
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0198028555

This volume is a guide to the resources and materials of Bach scholarship, both for the non specialist wondering where to begin in the enormous literature on J. S. Bach, and for the Bach specialist looking for a convenient and up to date survey of the field. It describes the tools of Bach research and how to use them, and suggests how to get started in Bach research by describing the principal areas of research and citing the essential literature on each piece and topic. The authors emphasize the issues that have engaged Bach scholars for generations, focusing on particularly important writings; on recent literature; on overviews, collections of essays and handbooks; and on writings in English. Subjects covered include bibliographic tools of Bach research and sources of literature; Bach's family; Bach biographies; places Bach lived and worked; Bach's teaching; the liturgy; Bach source studies and the transmission of his music; repertory and editions; genres and individual vocal and instrumental works; performance practice; the reception and analysis of Bach's music; and many others. The book also offers explanations of important and potentially confusing topics in Bach research, such as the organization of the annual cantata cycles, pitch standards, the history of the Berlin libraries, the structure of the critical commentary volumes in the Neue Bach Ausgabe, and so on. This book opens up the rich world of Bach scholarship to students, teachers, performers, and listeners.

L'enfance du Christ, Op 25. in Full Score

L'enfance du Christ, Op 25. in Full Score
Author: Hector Berlioz
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 196
Release: 1999-01-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0486408523

Unlike much of Berlioz' music, this meditation on the childhood of Christ is restrained, lyrical, and delicate. The three-part work is scored for seven solo voices, chorus, and orchestra, combining dramatic action and theatricality with philosophical reflection and moments of serene contemplation. The singing text appears in French and German.

Choral-Orchestral Repertoire

Choral-Orchestral Repertoire
Author: Jonathan D. Green
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 747
Release: 2019-12-05
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1442244674

Choral-Orchestral Repertoire: A Conductor’s Guide, Omnibus Edition offers an expansive compilation of choral-orchestral works from 1600 to the present. Synthesizing Jonathan D. Green’s earlier six volumes on this repertoire, this edition updates and adds to the over 750 oratorios, cantatas, choral symphonies, masses, secular works for large and small ensembles, and numerous settings of liturgical and biblical texts for a wide variety of vocal and instrumental combinations. Each entry includes a brief biographical sketch of the composer, approximate duration, text sources, performing forces, available editions, and locations of manuscript materials, as well as descriptive commentary, a discography, and a bibliography. Unique to this edition are practitioner’s evaluations of the performance issues presented in each score. These include the range, tessitura, and nature of each solo role and a determination of the difficulty of the choral and orchestral portions of each composition. There is also a description of the specific challenges, staffing, and rehearsal expectations related to the performance of each work. Choral-Orchestral Repertoire is an essential resource for conductors and students of conducting as they search for repertoire appropriate to their needs and the abilities of their ensembles.

String quartets opp. 42, 50, and 54

String quartets opp. 42, 50, and 54
Author: Joseph Haydn
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 241
Release: 1982-01-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0486242625

Complete reproductions of Op. 42 in D Minor; Op. 50, Nos. 1-6 (the "Prussian Quartets"), and Op. 54, Nos. 1-3 (first set of "Tost Quartets"). Reproduced from the authoritative Eulenburg edition.

American Art Songs of the Turn of the Century

American Art Songs of the Turn of the Century
Author: Paul Sperry
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 192
Release: 1991-01-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 9780486267494

42 of the best songs of a halcyon period in American music, richly varied in mood, sentiment and musical character, including classics by Edward MacDowell, Charles Ives, Amy Beach, Carrie Jacobs-Bond, Oley Speaks, Ethelbert Nevin, John Philip Sousa, Charles Wakefield Cadman and 14 other composers. Reprinted from rare original song sheets in full piano and vocal arrangements.