EARLY MUSIC FROM LOW COUNTRIES LIBRARIES
PART VI: VOCAL MUSIC 1650-1820
On microfiche
The Project
In cooperation with major music research libraries in the Netherlands and Belgium, MMF Publications is making available on microfiche rare musical compositions for the period before 1820 held in various repositories in those countries. Currently there are nine parts available.
Part VI: Vocal Music 1650-1820
Among the most characteristic forms of vocal music in the period between 1650 and 1820 are the song, the motet, the cantata and the oratorio. Together with several related forms from this period they have determined the contents of this microfiche set.
Solo- and part-songs
As early as 1600 the homophonic song supplanted the polyphonic composition and remained popular during the next two centuries. In some collections, such as the "Amphion Anglicus" (1700) of John Blow, it was included along with compositions for solo voice. In the early solo song in particular, Italian monody was manifest. Heinrich Albert's "Arien", but also the "Nederlandtsche Gedenckclanck" by Adriaen Valerius, are striking examples. In general there was still question here of a strophic song, such as in the French "air" and the English "ayre". The declamatory style is more clearly present in Constantijn Huygens ("Pathodia sacra et profana", 1647) and achieved an extraordinary expressiveness especially in the work of Purcell ("Orpheus Britannicus", 1698). In Germany the solo song only began to blossom in the course of the eighteenth century. In Berlin collections of songs by composers such as Marpurg, Graun and Kirnberger appeared around the middle of the century. They are usually strophic in form and were still printed with only a bass as accompaniment. It is only with Haydn (for example, the Canzonettas) that we encounter a more independent piano part with a completely elaborated right hand. Simplicity of style also characterizes the work of C.P.E. Bach, Mozart and Reichardt. In the same period in England the strophic song was popular as light entertainment with composers such as Thomas Arne, Samuel Arnold and Johann Christian Bach. The ballads by Zumsteeg included here form a separate chapter, for they are already close to the oeuvre of Schubert.
Cantatas, motets and other works for solo-voice(s)
Italian monody also strongly influenced the further development of the motet. In Italy in addition to the more traditional polyphonic form of composition, the motet was also known under the appellation "Concerto vocale". Although originally also written for larger ensembles of voices and instruments, it was subsequently limited especially to one or several solo voices. This was already the case in the "Raccolta de varii concerti musicali a una et due voci", which appeared in Rome in 1621, but it became virtually the rule after 1650. Wellknown examples are the motets by Cazzati (1663, 1676) and Bassani (1690/91, 1701), in which two violins join in. The psalms by Marcello ("Estro poetico armonico", 1724-26) are also actually motets composed in this tradition. On the other hand, Bononcini's "Laudate pueri" for solo voices, choir and instruments is closer to the cantata.
It is not only in Italy that the cantata develops from the concertato motet. In Germany Hammerschmidt and Fabricius (1655, 1658) still follow unmistakably in the path of Schütz, but the "Glückwunschende Kirchen Motetto" by J.S. Bach is inseparable from the many other cantatas of the Thomascantor. In the Lutheran liturgy the church cantata was to retain an important position, Zumsteeg publishing several around the turn of the century (1803-05). In France Lully still stood squarely in a seventeenth-century tradition, but the "grand motet" by De La Lande was characterized by a number of independent fragments for alternating soloists and choir and has as such much in common with the cantatas of Bach. On the other hand, the "petit motet" for one to three solo voices was closer to the Italian solo motet. Nivers, Morin and Mondonville excelled in this genre.
The secular cantata also had its origin in Italy. We already find elements of it in the "arie" (strophic variations) in Caccini's "Nuove Musiche" (1602) and these are still clearly observable in the later "Arie a voce sola" (1646) by Tarditi. Alessandro Scarlatti became the indisputable master of this form, but also G.B. Bononcini (1721), Ariosti (1724) and Porpora (1735) composed various cantatas. In France the cantatas by Morin were inconceivable without Italian examples. Morin (1704, etc.) set the pattern for later composers such as Grandval (1729), Bouvard (1730) and Rameau (1730). A typical French form was the "cantatille", a short cantata in rococo style (Prudent, 1745). During his Italian years Händel drew inspiration from Scarlatti, as his more than 100 cantatas attest. In England, in addition to Pepusch, it were especially Stanley (1742, 1748) and Thomas Arne (1755) who were known as cantata composers. Their work, accompanied by a large ensemble, was intended especially for the concert hall.
Choral works: the oratorio
Finally the oratorio, an Italian creation, achieved a character of its own with Händel. The part played by the chorus in particular was considerable, certainly in comparison to the predominately soloistic oratorio of the Italians. His first work in this genre, "Esther" (1732), was originally intended for the theatre, but was rearranged for concert performance. Its success led a year later to the composition of "Deborah" (1733). While most of Händel's oratoria were based on a dramatic theme, "Israel in Egypt" (1738) and "Messiah" (1741) were strictly contemplative. The influence of his music was considerable. Mozart adapted the "Messiah" and Haydn's "Schöpfung" (1800) is inconceivable without Händel, whose oratoria he heard in London. In England itself very few oratoria were performed in the period. Arne's "Judith" (1761) is one of the best known. In Germany the Italian lead was followed: C.P.E. Bach ("Die Israeliten in der Wüste", 1769), Hasse and Rolle wrote in this genre. The classical French oratorio found in Le Sueur a highly original advocate.
Also available
Part I: Concertos before 1820
Part II: Orchestral Music
Part III: Church Music
Part IV: Vocal and Instrumental Tutors
Part V: Historical Organ Collection
Part VII: Keyboard Music
Part VIII: Solo Instrumental Music 1660-1820
Part IX: Ensemble Music 1680-1820