MHST 327 Cantatas of J. S. Bach
This course is a study of some of Johann Sebastian Bach's cantatas, both sacred and secular. Although we will limit ourselves to close study of a scant selection of his approximately 200 surviving cantatas, we will approach each of them through the kinds of questions that will allow later, individual study of the rest. Topics will include cantata as a baroque genre, Bach's cantatas in the context of his contemporaries, autograph manuscript sources and their value to performers, understanding text types, symbolism of musical styles, the ritornello principle, aria forms, Lutheran theology, Bach's biography, and theories of performance practice. We will conclude the semester with a cantata performance workshop.