The Chamber Cantatas of Antonio Vivaldi

Description

Vivaldi's chamber cantatas for solo voice, some forty in total, are steadily gaining in popularity: but because of their relatively small place in the oeuvre of a composer famed for his productivity, and also on account of the general scholarly neglect of their genre, they are little discussed in the literature. This book comprehensively explores their literary and musical background, their relation to the composer's biography, the chronology of their composition, and their musical qualities. Each cantata is discussed individually, but there is also a broader consideration of aspects concerning them collectively, such as performance practice, topical allusion, and the conventions of Italian verse. The author argues that while Vivalid's cantatas are not as innovative as his concertos and operas, he produced several masterpieces in the genre that rank with his best music. MICHAEL TALBOT is Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Liverpool. CONTENTS ......Page 6 LIST OF MUSIC EXAMPLES ......Page 8 LIST OF TABLES ......Page 10 PREFACE ......Page 12 CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......Page 15 How Contemporaries saw them......Page 16 How Modern Commentators have seen them......Page 26 Their Modern Revival......Page 35 Its Historical Development......Page 40 Its Literary Nature......Page 48 Its Musical Nature......Page 59 The Composer and the Text......Page 76 Vivaldi as Literary Bricoleur......Page 81 The Composer and the Singer......Page 90 The Composer and the Accompaniment......Page 99 Vivaldi’s Mantuan Episode......Page 104 The Mantuan Court......Page 106 A Mirror of Court Life......Page 109 Individual Works......Page 117 Vivaldi’s Blütezeit......Page 135 Cantatas for all Occasions......Page 139 Individual Works......Page 152 Vivaldi and Dresden......Page 179 The Cantatas of the Dresden Compilation......Page 185 Individual Works......Page 188 Postscript: The Spurious Works......Page 197 The Cantata within Vivaldi’s Oeuvre......Page 203 Approaches to Performance......Page 207 GLOSSARY ......Page 216 LIST OF VIVALDI'S CANTATAS PUBLISHED IN THE NEW CRITICAL EDITION ......Page 221 SPURIOUS WORKS ......Page 223 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......Page 224 INDEX TO MUSICAL WORKS ......Page 232 GENERAL INDEX ......Page 238