The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Standard Cantatas, by George P. Upton
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Standard Cantatas
Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers
Author: George P. Upton
Release Date: May 4, 2010 [EBook #32248]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STANDARD CANTATAS ***
Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Charley Howard and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive)
THE
Standard Cantatas
THEIR STORIES, THEIR MUSIC, AND THEIR COMPOSERS
_A Handbook_
By GEORGE P. UPTON
AUTHOR OF
"THE STANDARD OPERAS," "THE STANDARD ORATORIOS," "WOMAN IN MUSIC," ETC.
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG AND COMPANY
1888
Copyright
By A. C. McClurg and Co.
A.D. 1887
PREFACE.
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 author's 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 of some difficulty to decide upon the
compositions that properly co
|