Overview

In this collection of essays Mary Cyr explores some of the written and unwritten performance conventions that applied to French and English music of the 17th and early 18th centuries. Using composers' own notations, marks added by 18th-century performers, historical treatises, and pictorial evidence, she investigates both vocal and instrumental genres, including opera, cantatas, instrumental chamber music, and solo music for the viol and violin. Some of the performance conventions remain controversial, such as the use of gesture by the French opera chorus, and others are still little-known, such as the use of the double bass for rhythmic and harmonic support in early 18th-century French opera. As many of these essays demonstrate, French Baroque music allowed performers a wider latitude of nuance and expression than is often assumed today. The essays in this volume will be of particular interest to scholars and performers who are interested in adopting a historically-informed approach to performing music by Henry Purcell, Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre, Jean-Philippe Rameau, and their contemporaries. Several studies also deal with attributions, sources, and the discovery of a cantata by Rameau.

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9780754659266

Table of Contents

Reviews

'The articles on ornamentation in English lyra viol music are a must for viol players interested in this repertoire... This book covers 30 years of work, but is so well researched and close to the sources that the older essays are not out of date... an extremely informative volume, of much use to performers and scholars alike.' The Viola da Gamba Society Journal 'The articles are thoroughly researched and substantial; several of them have content which can teach us to perform baroque music to which they refer with greater historical awareness. And they break valuable new ground.' The Consort

'The articles on ornamentation in English lyra viol music are a must for viol players interested in this repertoire... This book covers 30 years of work, but is so well researched and close to the sources that the older essays are not out of date... an extremely informative volume, of much use to performers and scholars alike.' The Viola da Gamba Society Journal 'The articles are thoroughly researched and substantial; several of them have content which can teach us to perform baroque music to which they refer with greater historical awareness. And they break valuable new ground.' The Consort

Author Information

Mary Cyr is Professor of Music, Emerita, at the University of Guelph, Canada.

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