Cantata

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Initially, there were sacred cantatas composed in the 1600s which were primarily used in Lutheran church services. The Cantata was a basic form of vocal performance with instrumental accompaniment, similar in style to an oratorio. The cantata composing style remained in this state pretty much for the rest of the century.

Secular cantatas first appeared in Venice during the early 17th century not long after the first sacred ones. By 1705 Alessandro Scarlatti had composed 'Al fin m'ucciderete' bringing the cantata to new heights of dramatic expression. Prior arrangements had been more basic, kind of like operas without actors.

While in Rome, Georg Friedrich Händel continued the form in the Italian tradition as did Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, nicknamed il Prete Rosso (The Red Priest). In fact, Vivaldi composed chamber music at that time which included some 40 cantatas for soloists.

Meanwhile, Johann Sebastian Bach in Germany wrote no less than 300 sacred cantatas for the Lutheran church. The popular  'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' is actually a small piece from the Bach chorale 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life).'

The cantata form was nearly abandoned by mid century, about 1750 due to numerous other styles coming into play during the latter Baroque period. It was then resurrected in the 20th century by composers Béla Viktor János Bartók, Sergei Sergejevič Prokofiev, and Igor Stravinsky as vocal and/or orchestral compositions.

Classical Cantata

Cantata 'Freue dich, erlöste Schar'

Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach 1738

Modern Cantata

'Flourish Mighty Homeland'

Composed by Sergei Sergejevič Prokofiev 1947

Renowned Cantatas with composers arranged by date

1624

1656

1705

1708

1710

1721

1724

1726

1755

1930

1947

1955

'Oh con quanta vaghezza'
'Salutate il nuovo aprile'
'Al fin m'ucciderete'
'Lungi da voi che siete poli'
'Orphée'
'Ecco Dorinda il giormo'
'Ein teste Burg ist unser Gott'
'Harmonischer Gottes-dienst'
'Six English Cantatas'
'Cantata profana'
'Flourish, Mighty Homeland'
'Canticum sacrum'
Giovanni Pietro Berti
Marco Marazzoli
Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti
Georg Friedrich Händel
Louis-Nicholas Clérambault
Giovanni Battista Bononcini
Johann Sebastian Bach
Georg Philipp Telemann
Thomas Augustine Arne
Béla Viktor János Bartók
Sergei Sergejevič Prokofiev
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky