Songs without Words: Keyboard Arrangements of Vocal Music in England, 1560-1760
Pathbreaking study of a vast and intriguing repertoire: arrangements for keyboard instruments of songs, arias, and other vocal pieces, from the age William Byrd to that of Handel.

Keyboard arrangements of vocal music flourished in England between1560 and 1760. Songs without Words, by noted harpsichordist and early-music authority Sandra Mangsen, is the first in-depth study of this topic, uncovering abody of material that is remarkably varied, musically interesting, and indicative of major trends in musical and social life at the time.
Mangsen's Songs without Words argues that the pieces upon which these keyboardarrangements were based constituted a shared repertoire, akin to the jazz standards of the twentieth century. In Restoration England, the ballad tradition saw tunes and texts move between oral, manuscript, and printed transmissionand from street to playhouse and back again. During the eighteenth century, printed keyboard arrangements were aimed particularly at female amateur keyboardists and helped opera to become a widely popular genre.
Songs without Words considers a wide range of model pieces, including songs of many kinds and arias and other numbers from operas and oratorios. The resulting keyboard versions range from simple and pedagogically oriented to highly virtuosic. Two central issues — the relationship between an arrangement and its model and the reception and aesthetics of arrangements — are explored in the framing chapters. The result is a study that will be of great interest toscholars, performers, and anyone who loves the music of the late Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classic eras.

Sandra Mangsen is professor emerita of music at the University of Western Ontario.
1123374942
Songs without Words: Keyboard Arrangements of Vocal Music in England, 1560-1760
Pathbreaking study of a vast and intriguing repertoire: arrangements for keyboard instruments of songs, arias, and other vocal pieces, from the age William Byrd to that of Handel.

Keyboard arrangements of vocal music flourished in England between1560 and 1760. Songs without Words, by noted harpsichordist and early-music authority Sandra Mangsen, is the first in-depth study of this topic, uncovering abody of material that is remarkably varied, musically interesting, and indicative of major trends in musical and social life at the time.
Mangsen's Songs without Words argues that the pieces upon which these keyboardarrangements were based constituted a shared repertoire, akin to the jazz standards of the twentieth century. In Restoration England, the ballad tradition saw tunes and texts move between oral, manuscript, and printed transmissionand from street to playhouse and back again. During the eighteenth century, printed keyboard arrangements were aimed particularly at female amateur keyboardists and helped opera to become a widely popular genre.
Songs without Words considers a wide range of model pieces, including songs of many kinds and arias and other numbers from operas and oratorios. The resulting keyboard versions range from simple and pedagogically oriented to highly virtuosic. Two central issues — the relationship between an arrangement and its model and the reception and aesthetics of arrangements — are explored in the framing chapters. The result is a study that will be of great interest toscholars, performers, and anyone who loves the music of the late Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classic eras.

Sandra Mangsen is professor emerita of music at the University of Western Ontario.
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Songs without Words: Keyboard Arrangements of Vocal Music in England, 1560-1760

Songs without Words: Keyboard Arrangements of Vocal Music in England, 1560-1760

by Sandra Mangsen
Songs without Words: Keyboard Arrangements of Vocal Music in England, 1560-1760

Songs without Words: Keyboard Arrangements of Vocal Music in England, 1560-1760

by Sandra Mangsen

Hardcover

$125.00 
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Overview

Pathbreaking study of a vast and intriguing repertoire: arrangements for keyboard instruments of songs, arias, and other vocal pieces, from the age William Byrd to that of Handel.

Keyboard arrangements of vocal music flourished in England between1560 and 1760. Songs without Words, by noted harpsichordist and early-music authority Sandra Mangsen, is the first in-depth study of this topic, uncovering abody of material that is remarkably varied, musically interesting, and indicative of major trends in musical and social life at the time.
Mangsen's Songs without Words argues that the pieces upon which these keyboardarrangements were based constituted a shared repertoire, akin to the jazz standards of the twentieth century. In Restoration England, the ballad tradition saw tunes and texts move between oral, manuscript, and printed transmissionand from street to playhouse and back again. During the eighteenth century, printed keyboard arrangements were aimed particularly at female amateur keyboardists and helped opera to become a widely popular genre.
Songs without Words considers a wide range of model pieces, including songs of many kinds and arias and other numbers from operas and oratorios. The resulting keyboard versions range from simple and pedagogically oriented to highly virtuosic. Two central issues — the relationship between an arrangement and its model and the reception and aesthetics of arrangements — are explored in the framing chapters. The result is a study that will be of great interest toscholars, performers, and anyone who loves the music of the late Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classic eras.

Sandra Mangsen is professor emerita of music at the University of Western Ontario.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781580465496
Publisher: BOYDELL & BREWER INC
Publication date: 08/19/2016
Series: ISSN , #133
Pages: 282
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Abbreviations xv

Introduction 1

1 Ballads Transformed 12

2 Arias Domesticated: The Ladys Entertainment and Other Early Eighteenth-Century Anthologies 59

3 With Their Symphonies: William Babell and The Ladys Entertainment Books 3 and 4 93

4 Opera Remix: Babell's Suits of 1717 119

5 After Babell: Arrangements for Ladies and Gentlemen 156

6 Afterthoughts 189

Appendix: The Ladys Banquet (Second Series): Contents, Concordances, and Dissemination 199

Notes 219

Bibliography 239

Index 251

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