Studia

The present paper represents the first part of more complex two-part study – Theoretical Perspectives and Analytical Perspectives –, which attempts to theorize and analyze the elements of non-scenic musical expression occurring in the French Baroque cantata built upon the theme of the Orpheus myth. This first part contains the temporal, structural and stylistic framework of the French Baroque cantata, the influence of the Italian cantata upon the French one and the style and writing elements derived from this process. The paper also provides a brief presentation of four of the six relevant Baroque works built upon the theme of Orpheus (Marc-Antoine Charpentier, César-François-Nicolas Clérambault, Philippe Courbois and Jean-Philippe Rameau), as landmarks in the evolution of the species. The second part of the research, entitled Analytical Perspectives, gives a detailed presentation of the four works, focusing on the language elements that particularize, in each individual case, the conception of the dramatic as a means of expression in a preponderantly lyrico-epical context.

Keywords and key expressions: Orpheus, French Baroque cantata, non-spectacular genre, dramatic, instrumental.

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