This volume of essays on Jean-Baptiste Lully and his musical legacy honours the distinguished French baroque scholar James R. Anthony. Jean-Baptiste Lully, court composer to Louis XIV, served as the principal architect of what would become known as the French style of music in the baroque era. The style he created strongly influenced the great musical figures in England (Purcell and Handel) and Germany (Bach and Telemann), but Lully's music itself has received little attention. Recently, through the efforts of scholars and musicians concerned with the performance practices of Lully's time, Lully's own music has begun to come alive in performance and recording. These essays, all by important baroque specialists, cover significant aspects of Lully's life and works and the French tradition he influenced. They constitute the first post-war collection of studies centred on Lully and form a fitting tribute to Professor Anthony whose own French baroque music provided a stimulus for the work of an emerging generation of scholars.
Simple songs or airs, in which a male poetic voice either seduces or excoriates a female object, were an influential vocal genre of the French Baroque era. In this comprehensive and interdisciplinary study, Catherine Gordon-Seifert analyzes the style of airs, which was based on rhetorical devices of lyric poetry, and explores the function and meaning of airs in French society, particularly the salons. She shows how airs deployed in both text and music an encoded language that was in sensuous contrast to polite society's cultivation of chaste love, strict gender roles, and restrained discourse.
This Companion is an essential guide to all aspects of the organ and its music. It examines in turn the instrument, the player and the repertoire. The early chapters tell of the instrument's history and construction, identify the scientific basis of its sounds and the development of its pitch and tuning, examine the history of the organ case, and consider the current trends and conflicts within the world of organ building. Central chapters investigate the practical art of learning and playing the organ, introduce the complex area of performance practice, and outline the relationship between organ playing and the liturgy of the church. The final section explores the vast repertoire of organ music, focusing on a selection of the most important traditions.
First published in 1974, this landmark work quickly established itself as the definitive study of French music from 1581 to 1733, a period that included masters such as Marin Marais, Lully, Couperin, and Rameau. This expanded edition includes a bibliography of more than 1,300 works.
During the course of the 17th century, the dramatic arts reached a pinnacle of development in France; but despite the volumes devoted to the literature and theatre of the ancien régime, historians have largely neglected the importance of music and dance. This study defines the musical practices of comedy, tragicomedy, tragedy, and mythological and non-mythological pastoral drama, from the arrival of the first repertory companies in Paris until the establishment of the Comédie-Française.
"A History of Baroque Music is a detailed treatment of the music of the Baroque era, with particular focus on the seventeenth century. The author's approach is a history of musical style with an emphasis on musical scores. The book is divided initially by time period into early and later Baroque (1600-1700 and 1700-1750 respectively), and secondarily by country and composer. An introductory chapter discusses stylistic continuity with the late Renaissance and examines the etymology of the term "Baroque." The concluding chapter on the composer Telemann addresses the stylistic shift that led to the end of the Baroque and the transition into the Classical period."--Jacket.
An era of continuous and far-reaching musical evolution, the Baroque period witnessed the invention of opera and oratorio and the emergence of such instrumental genres as the sonata, suite, and concerto, which continue to engage composers today. An ideal instructional package for courses in music history and literature, Music of the Baroque, Second Edition, and its accompanying anthology of scores offer a vivid introduction to European music from 1600 through 1750. Integrating historical and cultural context with composer biography, music analysis, and performance practice, the text surveys Baroque music while analyzing in depth more than forty works from the principal traditions of the period. An opening chapter on late-Renaissance vocal music and a closing chapter on galant instrumental music provide bridges to earlier and later European music. Thoroughly revised and updated to reflect current scholarship, this second edition of Music of the Baroque offers expanded coverage of instrumental music, with new sections on French lute music and the Italian trumpet sinfonia, along with enhanced discussion of chamber music from Salomone Rossi to Biber and Corelli. French sacred music also receives renewed attention. Offering models for musical criticism and analysis in a variety of compositional styles, author David Schulenberg analyzes familiar works like Monteverdi's Orfeo and a Bach cantata as well as lesser-known compositions, including works by Barbara Strozzi and Elizabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre. Additional Features: * Incorporates a wealth of pedagogical resources including synopses of operatic works; biographical timelines for major composers; numerous illustrations, musical examples, and analytical tables; highlighting and explanations of technical terms upon first appearance; and carefully formulated definitions of each new concept * Revised to incorporate the latest in Baroque music scholarship, including an updated bibliography and many new music examples and illustrations * Accompanied by a companion anthology that contains more than fifty pieces for analysis * Supplemented by the author's website, www.wagner.edu/faculty/dschulenberg/oupcont.html, which provides a discography for pieces included in the anthology Designed for undergraduate and graduate students, Music of the Baroque, Second Edition, is also essential reading for anyone who desires an up-to-date introduction to the serious study of Baroque music.
