The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Music

This History, first published in 2009, provides a comprehensive survey of eighteenth-century music, examining little-known repertories, works and musical trends alongside more familiar ones.

Simon P. Keefe (Edited by)

9781107643970, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 July 2014

818 pages, 5 b/w illus. 4 tables 11 music examples
22.7 x 15.2 x 3.5 cm, 1.29 kg

'This must have been a very difficult book to edit, and Simon Keefe (together with David Wyn Jones, who planned the volume) deserves unqualified congratulations for having engaged the work of so many gifted contributors and for having lurked in the detail (as it were) to such good effect … one cannot doubt the immense significance of this volume in its authoritative engagement with a repertory that speaks at every turn to the central importance of music as a vital expression of eighteenth-century thought.' Music and Letters

The eighteenth century arguably boasts a more remarkable group of significant musical figures, and a more engaging combination of genres, styles and aesthetic orientations, than any century before or since, yet huge swathes of its musical activity remain under-appreciated. The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Music provides a comprehensive survey, examining little-known repertories, works and musical trends alongside more familiar ones. Rather than relying on temporal, periodic and composer-related phenomena to structure the volume, it is organised by genre; chapters are grouped according to the traditional distinctions of music for the church, music for the theatre and music for the concert room that conditioned so much thinking, activity and output in the eighteenth century. A valuable summation of current research in this area, the volume also encourages readers to think of eighteenth-century music less in terms of overtly teleological developments than of interacting and mutually stimulating musical cultures and practices.

Editor's preface Simon P. Keefe
Prelude: 1. The musical map of Europe c.1700 STEPHEN ROSE
Part I. Music for the Church: 2. Catholic church music in Italy, and the Spanish and Portuguese Empires PAUL R. LAIRD
3. Catholic sacred music in Austria JEN-YEN CHEN
4. Catholic church music in France JEAN-PAUL C. MONTAGNIER
5. Lutheran church music STEPHEN ROSE
6. Protestant church music in England and America CHARLES E. BREWER
Interlude
7. Listening, thinking and writing DAVID SCHROEDER
Part II. Music for the Theatre: 8. Italian opera in the eighteenth century MARGARET R. BUTLER
9. Opera in Paris from Campra to Rameau LOIS ROSOW
10. An instinct for parody and a spirit for revolution: Parisian opera, 1752–1800 MICHAEL FEND
11. German opera from Richard Keiser to Peter Winter CLAUDIA MAURER ZENCK, translated by Anke Caton and Simon P. Keefe
12. The lure of aria, procession and spectacle: opera in eighteenth-century London MICHAEL BURDEN
13. Music theatre in Spain RAINER KLEINERTZ
14. Opera in Sweden GREGER ANDERSSON
Interlude
15. Performance in the eighteenth century JOHN IRVING
Part III. Music for the Salon and Concert Room: 16. Keyboard music from Couperin to early Beethoven ROHAN STEWART-MACDONALD
17. The Serenata in the eighteenth century STEFANIE TCHAROS
18. Private music in public spheres: chamber cantata and song BERTA JONCUS
19. Handel and English oratorio EVA ZÖLLNER
20. The Overture-Suite, Concerto Grosso and Harmoniemusik in the eighteenth century STEVEN ZOHN
21. Concerto of the individual SIMON MCVEIGH
22. Eighteenth-century symphonies: an unfinished dialogue RICHARD WILL
23. The string quartet CLIFF EISEN
Postlude: 24. Across the divide: currents of musical thought in Europe, c.1790–1810 SIMON P. KEEFE
Appendix 1: Personalia DAVID BLACK
Appendix 2: Chronology DAVID BLACK
Appendix 3: Institutions in major European cities DAVID BLACK.

Subject Areas: Classical music [c 1750 to c 1830 AVGC4], Baroque music [c 1600 to c 1750 AVGC3], Music [AV]