A History of the Oratorio, Volumes 1-3 by Smither, Howard E - 1987

Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987. Hardcover. Good+/Good+ (Ex-library with stamps and labels on spine, inside front and rear covers, ffep and block.Light shelfwear to boards and block. Volume 1 has soiling along block. Text and illustrations are otherwise clean and clear. Bindings are tight.). Three volumes bound in tan and blue boards with gilt spine lettering. All volumes have blue and white illustrated end papers. Volume 1 is 480 pp, bw illustrations. Volume 2 is 393 pp, bw illustrations. Volume 3 is 711 pp, bw illustrations. v. 1. The oratorio in the baroque era : Italy, Vienna, Paris. I. Introduction -- Part I: The antecedents and origins of the oratorio. II. The Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Roman Catholic Reform. Some antecedents of the oratorio ; The oratorians and their social context ; Antecedents of the oratorio in Neri's oratory ; A reappraisal of some oratorio antecedents -- III. The early Baroque : antecedents and incunabula of the oratorio ; Antecedents ; Anerio's Teatro and some incunabula of the oratorio -- Part II: The oratorio in Italy, circa 1640-1720 -- IV. Mid-century Rome I : the oratorio Volgare. Social, artistic, and literary background ; Musical background ; The oratories and their music ; Examples of the oratorio Volgare ; The chief characteristics of the oratorio Volgare -- V. Mid-century Rome II : Carissimi and the oratorio Latino. Rome's Latin oratory and its music ; Giacomo Carissimi ; Some contemporaries of Carissimi ; The chief characteristics of the oratorio Latino -- VI. The later Baroque I : social contexts, patrons, composers, poets. Rome ; Other centers -- VII. The later Baroque II : the libretto and music. The libretto ; The music of the oratorio from the 1660s to the 1680s ; The music of the oratorio from the 1680s to about 1720 ; Conclusion -- Part III: The Italian oratorio outside Italy. VIII. Vienna. The oratorio and sepolcro in Vienna -- IX. Paris. Social and musical background ; Marc-Antoine Charpentier and the Latin oratorio ; Parisian oratorios after Charpentier.
v. 2. The oratorio in the baroque era : Protestant Germany and England. Part I : Protestant Germany : the seventeenth-century antecedents and origins. I. The Lutheran Historia and Passion. The Lutheran Historia before Schütz ; The Historiae of Schütz ; The Actus Musicus and the later Historia ; The Oratorio Passion -- II. The sacred dramatic dialogue and other genres. The early dialogue ; The concertato dialogue ; Examples of dramatic dialogues ; Other sacred dramatic genres -- III. Buxtehude and the Lübeck Abendmusiken. The origin and social context of the Abendmusiken ; Some works for the Abendmusiken -- Part II: Protestant Germany : the early eighteenth-century oratorio. IV. Terminology, social contexts, composers, poets. Terminology ; Social contexts, composers, poets -- V. The libretto and the music. The libretto ; The music ; Some examples -- Part III: Handel and the English oratorio. VI. Antecedents and origins. Antecedents in seventeenth-century England ; Handel the opera composer in England ; Antecedents in Handel's English music ; The beginning of the English oratorio : 1718, 1732-33 ; An interlude : 1733-38 -- VII. The first mature period of Handel's English oratorio : 1738-1745. The oratorios of 1738 ; An interlude : 1739-1741 ; The oratorios of 1741-1744 -- VIII. Handel's later oratorios. Four "occasional" oratorios : 1746-1748 ; The last four oratorios : 1748-1752 ; The chief characteristics of Handel's oratorios ; Some contemporaries of Handel.
v. 3. The oratorio in the classical era. Part I: The Italian oratorio. I. Social contexts of the Italian oratorio. Introduction: Terminology and genre definition ; Italian and Latin oratorio in Italy ; Italian oratorio abroad -- II. The libretto and music of the Italian oratorio. The libretto ; The music -- III. Selected Italian oratorios. La morte d'Abel / Leonardo Leo ; La conversione di Sant'Agostino / Johann Adolf Hasse ; La passione di Gesù Cristo / Nicolò Jommelli ; David poenitens / Ferdinando Bertoni ; Il ritorno di Tobia / Joseph Haydn ; Debora e Sisara / Pietro Alessandro Guglielme -- Part II: The English oratorio after Handel. IV. Social contexts of the English oratorio. Introduction: Terminology and genre definition ; England ; The New World -- V. The English oratorio : libretto, music, selected oratorios. The libretto ; The music : general characteristics ; The music : selected oratorios ; Paradise lost / John Christopher Smith ; Judith / Thomas Augustine Arne ; Hannah / John Worgan ; The fall of Egypt / John Stanley ; Jonah / Samuel Felsted -- Part III: Ther German oratorio. VI. Social contexts of the German oratorio. Introduction: Terminology and genre definition ; Sponsors and social contexts -- VII. The libretto and music of the German oratorio. The libretto ; The music : general characteristics -- VIII. Selected German oratorios. Der Tag des Gerichts / Georg Philipp Teleman ; Der Tod Jesu / Carl Heinrich Graun ; Auferstehung und himmelfahrt Jesu / Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach ; Lazarus, oder die Feyer der Auferstehung / Johann Heinrich Rolle ; The creation and The seasons / Joseph Haydn ; Christus am Oelberge / Ludwig van Beethoven -- Part IV: The oratorio in French and other languages. IX. The French oratorio. Introduction: Terminology and genre definition ; Social context ; The libretto ; The music : general characteristics ; The music : selected oratorios ; La sortie d'Egypte / Henri-Joseph Rigel ; La nativité / Francois-Joseph Gossec ; The oratorios of Jean-François Le Sueur -- X. The oratorio in other languages. The Spanish oratorio ; The Portuguese oratorio ; The oratorio in Denmark and Sweden ; The Russian oratorio -- Summary and prospect -- Appendix A: Some title pages of Italian and Latin printed librettos mentioned in the text -- Appendix B: Checklist of composers of Italian and Latin oratorios, ca. 1720-1820.