Bokina notes that postmodern works (Cage, Adams, Corigliano) touch on
contemporary issues “but take no clear and coherent position on them.” Back-
notes, 20-page bibliography, good index.- Wolff, Hellmuth Christian.Geschichte der komischen Oper: Von den Anfän-
gen bis zur Gegenwart.Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen, 1981. 264p. ISBN
3-7959-0304-1. ML1850 .W64.
A scholarly account of the genre from the early Renaissance; emphasis on
Europe, with some attention to American works. Illustrations, extended musi-
cal examples, unannotated bibliography of about 150 items. Name and topic
index.
Precursors and 17th Century
- Raguenet, François. Parallel des Italiens et des François, en ce qui regarde la
musique et las[sic] opéra. Paris: J. Moreau, 1702. 140p.
An important early discussion of Italian (which is favored) and French opera,
foreshadowing the querellethat erupted a half century later. In Strunk,671–
678, the complete text is given, with source information and some notes.
Fubini (#98) prints excerpts, with source information and more extensive
notes (p.68–73). An English translation attributed to J. E. Gaillard appeared in
1709. - Le Cerf de La Viéville, Jean Laurent. Comparaison de la musique italienne et
de la musique françois. Brussels: F. Foppeas, 1704–1706. 3v. in 1.
A response to Raguenet (#84), partly translated into English in Strunk. The
author was an ardent admirer of Lully and the French opera.
Other material on opera’s first century is entered under the composers who created it:
Giulio Caccini (#654ff.), Jacopo Peri (#377, #1398), Claudio Monteverdi (#1204),
and their librettists: Gian Francesco Busenello (#236), and Ottavio Rinuccini (#268,
#269).
See also #2438–#2446 for material on the Camerata.
18th Century
- Jacquot, Jean, ed. La fête théâtrale et les sources de l’opéra: Acts de la 4° ses-
sion des Journées Internationales d’Étude du Baroque. Mantaubon: Baroque
Revue Internationale, 1972. 138p. ML1703 .J7.
Fourteen papers on various arts of the musical theater (ballets, intermèdes,
fêtes,etc.). Complete contents in Baron,473. - Yorke-Long, Alan. Music at Court: Four Eighteenth-Century Studies.London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1954. xviii, 158p. ML60 .Y6.
Valuable background essays about music in Parma, Stuttgart, Dresden, and
Berlin. They deal with the theaters, festivals, place of the musician, composers,
singers, and the overarching role of the ruling personage. With footnotes and
index.
Histories 19