Four selected cantatas by Alessandro Scarlatti: transcription from manuscript number M360.10 of the Boston Public Library and commentary
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Abstract
The cantatas of Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) represent the culmination of more than a century of Italian secular cantata composition. Although overshadowed by the immense popularity of the Neapolitan opera, the cantata served as the ideal medium for the experimentation with and the perfection of new musical techniques. Thus, while Scarlatti himself was far better known for his operas, his numerous cantatas are historically of more special musical significance.
Although Scarlatti's cantatas are distinguished by their beauty and craftsmanship, only a very few have been edited in modern published editions. This is despite the fact that almost eight hundred of Scarlatti's cantatas are known to exist in manuscript form. These have been exhaustively indexed by Edwin Hanley in an unpublished Yale University dissertation, "Alessandro Scarlatti's Cantate da Camera: A Bibliographic Study" (1963). However, the forthcoming complete edition of them lies years in the future. [TRUNCATED]
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Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University
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