In this book, Emily Wilbourne boldly traces the roots of early opera back to the sounds of the commedia dell’arte. Along the way, she forges a new history of Italian opera, from the court pieces of the early seventeenth century to the public stages of Venice more than fifty years later. Wilbourne considers a series of case studies structured around the most important and widely explored operas of the period: Monteverdi’s lost L’Arianna, as well as his Il Ritorno d’Ulisse and L’incoronazione di Poppea; Mazzochi and Marazzoli’s L’Egisto, ovvero Chi soffre speri; and Cavalli’s L’Ormindo and L’Artemisia. As she demonstrates, the sound-in-performance aspect of commedia dell’arte theater—specifically, the use of dialect and verbal play—produced an audience that was accustomed to listening to sonic content rather than simply the literal meaning of spoken words. This, Wilbourne suggests, shaped the musical vocabularies of early opera and facilitated a musicalization of Italian theater. Highlighting productive ties between the two worlds, from the audiences and venues to the actors and singers, this work brilliantly shows how the sound of commedia performance ultimately underwrote the success of opera as a genre.

In 1997, twenty-five years after its first publication, Thematic Catalogues in Music-An Annotated Bibliography (Pendragon Press, 1972) appeared in a completely revised and expanded Second Edition. It contains almost twice as many entries as its predecessor; virtually every one of the original entries has been updated; and the following noteworthy features have been added.1. A second introductory essay detailing trends and innovations in thematic cataloguing brought about by the revolution in technology of the past twenty years. 2. Appendices listing thematic catalogues in series; both by national organizations and publishers; a detailed up-to-date, country-by-country report of activities worldwide; a listing of major computerized databanks. 3. New double-column format. 4. Numerous illustrations and reproductions of pages from thematic catalogues of historical significance. The second edition continues the policy of listing all known thematic catalogues and indexes, including those in doctoral dissertations, masters essays, and computer databanks, as well as in-progress and unpublished works, plus reviews, and literature about thematic cataloguing. The original numbering of the 1972 entries has been retained, with new items appearing in proper alphabetical/chronological sequence but with the addition of decimal numbers and/or letters (363.1 or 960a). Lastly, the original historical introduction and special appendices of the first edition have been retained with emendations where needed.

Howard Smither has written the first definitive work on the history of the oratorio since Arnold Schering published his Geschichte des Oratoriums in 1911. This volume is the first of a four-volume comprehensive study that offers a new synthesis of what is known to date about the oratorio. Volume 1, divided into three parts, opens with the examination of the medieval, Renaissance, and early Baroque antecedents and origins of the oratorio, with emphasis on Rome and Philip Neri's Congregation of the Oratory and with special attention to the earliest works for which the term oratorio seems appropriate. The second part recounts the development of the oratorio in Italy, circa 1640-1720. It reviews the social contexts, patrons, composers, poets, librettos, and music of the oratorio in Italy, especially in Vienna and Paris. The procedure adapted throughout the work is to treat first the social context, particularly the circumstances of performance of the oratorio in a given area and period, then to treat the libretto, and finally the music. For each geographic area and period, the author has selected for special attention a few oratorios that appear to be particularly important or representative. He has verified the information offered in the specialized literature whenever possible by reference to the music or documents. In a number of areas, particular seventeenth-century Italy, in which relatively few previous studies have been undertaken or secondary sources have proven to be inadequate, the author has examined the primary sources in manuscript and printed form -- music, librettos, and documents of early oratorio history. Impressive research and intelligent integration of disparate elements make this complicated, diffuse subject both readable and accessible to the student of music. Volume 2, The Oratorio in the Baroque Era: Protestant Germany and England, and Volume 3, The Oratorio in the Classical Era, continue and expand the study of oratorio history. Although this series was originally announced as a three-volume study, Smither will conclude with a fourth volume. This new work--the first English-language study of the history of the oratorio will become the standard work on its subject and an enduring contribution to music and scholarship. Originally published in 1977. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Exceptionally clear, systematic presentation of the evolution of musical style from Gregorian Chant (AD 700) to mid-20th-century atonal music. Over 140 musical examples. Bibliography.

The holdings of the Music Division of the New York Public Library cover virtually all musical subjects; its scores represent a broad spectrum of musical style and history.

Includes entries for maps and atlases.

Throughout the western classical tradition, composers have influenced and been influenced by their students and teachers. Many musicians frequently add to their personal acclaim by naming their teachers and the lineage through which they were taught. Until now, the relationships between composers have remained uncataloged and understudied, but with enough research, it is possible to document entire schools of composition. Composer Genealogies: A Compendium of Composers, Their Teachers, and Their Students is the first volume to gather the genealogies of more than seventeen thousand classical composers in a single volume. Functioning as its own fully cross-referenced index, this volume lists composers and their dates, followed by their teachers and notable students. A short introduction presents the parameters by which composers were selected and provides a survey of the literature available for further study. Gathering records and information from reference books, university websites, obituaries, articles, composers’ websites, and even direct contact with some composers, Pfitzinger creates a valuable resource for music researchers, composers, and performers.