Composers
Monteverdi
Schütz
Bach
Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
Berlioz
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Cantata
A musical work including soloists,
a choir and an orchestra. The cantata was
originally a singing form only
(as opposed to the sonata, that was meant for playing). In the 16th century,
the cantata was formed as a piece for recitation of rhymed poetry or a
dramatic rhyming movement, by a single singer accompanied by one instrument
(cantata da-camera). Monteverdi
and Peri
composed such cantatas but those were considered
inferior to the newly born opera,
which, unlike the cantata, included acting, costumes and stage design.
Carissimi
improved the cantata in the 17th century and
introduced it into the church. Gradually,
he added accompanying instruments, arias
(a solo song), and the string orchestra became
the main accompaniment. Pergolesi
in Italy,
Couperin
in France,
Schütz
in Germany,
and many others - all wrote numerous cantatas and prepared the rich soil
on which grew a genius - Johann Sebastian
Bach,
who composed 300 Church Cantatas
and a few secular ones (such as the "Coffee
Cantata"), so diverse and different from
each other, that one cannot grasp the musical capacity manifested in each
and every one. Choirs, soloists, duets
and arias are deployed, and the conclusion
is always with a choral, where everybody present in church sings together.
Instruments vary from one piece to another - Bach wrote for the players
available to him at the time.
After Bach, many composers wrote
cantatas of all kinds: Haydn,
Mozart,
Beethoven,
Shcubert
and Berlioz,
and until the 20th century
composers like Stravinsky
and Britten.
Yet the cantata's climax was in the baroque.
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