This collection spans from the late 1850s to the mid-1920s, covering a wide range of sacred and secular subjects from St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, to the evolution of the American colonial experiment. These cantatas keep a record of an often-forgotten human experience, shedding light on the values, joys, and sorrows of humanity in an older world. The subjects and attitudes of these titles serve as a testament to a simpler time, as well as a record of the intricacies and complexities of the relationship between spirituality and human progress.

Some of the included scores include the full score while others are vocal scores with piano reductions. The formatting styles of the collection also vary, some with the lyrics completely separated from the music and some fully integrated, with additional variations in the scoring methods. Despite being lesser-known cantatas, especially in comparison to Bach, Mendelssohn, and Vaughan Williams, these highlight the creativity of lesser-known composers in the late Romantic.

Research Questions
Compared to other cantatas you know, how are the voice parts used in similar or different ways? How does the narrator align with traditional evangelists? What role does the choir play? What role do the arias and recitatives play in the entire story?

Find another cantata on a similar theme, either sacred or secular. How does the late Romantic example explore the theme differently than the earlier one?

Using similar choruses from across the included scores, compare compositional techniques utilized. Is there a fugue or imitation? Is it mostly homophonic or polyphonic? Is this true across the entire cantata? How do these techniques exemplify the set text?

Compare the large forms and attributes of multiple selections: how many movements, what kinds of movements, forces required. Using only these pieces, what definition would develop for “cantata”? How does this match the textbook definition?

Some included cantatas were written in the United States while others are from Europe. Comparing several from each setting, what trends surface from each side of the ocean? Are there noticeable differences, or could they be interchanged? What influences are visible in each category?

Activity: Visually Annotated Score
Taking a score from one of the portal items, create a basic digital exhibit by annotating the score with contextual information. Digital creation platforms such as Annotate.com and Adobe, which allow for collaborative annotation and editing, as well as the incorporation of media, could be used. In effect, students create an entirely new work that directly responds to the selected example, incorporating course concepts, library resources, and students’ perspectives.

Activity: Mapping
Students will create a visual map reflecting the influences on a particular cantata. In creating a web or map, with free services such as Lucidspark or Milanote, students will draw connections of varying sorts between previous pieces and the one under study. The information creation process of a musical performance can be described in terms of its proximity to influences. In the example of “Jolene,” the original piece was written by Dolly Parton. However, it has been covered by many artists, and each adds their own interpretation. In this way, “information may be perceived differently based on the format in which it is packaged.” In comparing performances of “Jolene” by Alison Krauss versus The White Stripes, one can argue Krauss’s version is much closer to Dolly Parton’s original version. Visualizing musical influence through the evolution of a song creates a structure for understanding the context of a musical piece and its creation. The continuous lines represent direct influence, and the dotted-line arrows represent space for influence, regardless of whether it’s documented.

Activity: Compare to What You Know
Lead students through an exploration of cantatas that do not have current sound recordings (all of these). Look into the reductions and compare what is known about cantatas (from Baroque through Romantic), including the following points:

• How are the voice parts used in similar or different ways?
• How does the narrator align with traditional evangelists?
• What role does the choir play?
• What role do the arias and recitatives play in the entire story?
• If time allows, find another cantata on a similar theme, either sacred or secular. How does the late Romantic example explore the theme differently than the earlier one?

International Music Score Library Project
Provides free access to musical scores (public domain as well as music from composers who are willing to share their work with the world without charge). Includes more than 37,000 works, 93,000 scores, and 2,000 recordings.

Music Online
Includes the following collections: African American Music Reference, American Song, Classical Music Library, Classical Music Reference Library, Classical Music in Video, Classical Scores Library, Contemporary World Music, Opera in Video, and Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries.

Oxford Music Online
The most comprehensive reference work for music in English, with continually updated content. Searches Grove Music Online initially; on search results pages, provides links to more results from The Oxford Dictionary of Music and The Oxford Companion to Music.

The Bach Cantatas
A site containing the texts and instrumentation of J.S. Bach’s cantatas, motets, masses, passions, oratorios, and chorales. All texts in German with links to translations.

Clori: Archive of Italian Cantata
A census of all the existing musical sources of vocal chamber music on an Italian text, from its origins around 1620 to the latest evidence in the first decades of the nineteenth century.

Index to Printed Music
A finding tool used to identify individual works within scholarly editions published from 1720 to 2006, such as the complete works of composers and historical anthologies.