Evolution of the German Church Cantata

Abstract

All reference to musical scores, and to books, are keyed to the Bibliography at the conclusion of this study. The convention of indicating major and minor keys by large and small case letters has been adopted throughout: e.g. C = C Major, and c = C Minor. The number of vocal or instrumental voices in a composition is referred to as, a3, a4, etc. These are standard abbreviations for 'a quattro voce', etc., 'for four voices'. S, A, T, B, refer to vocal parts: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. These are used instead of the original descriptions in some of the works, e.g. 'discantus' (soprano), 'Quintus' (alto or tenor), and also to identify voice-parts that are marked only by a clef in the music score. Reference to the various Bach works are identified by the appropriate Bach Werke Verzeichnis (Schmieder) number, e.g., Wachet auf! (BWV 140).