SPEAKERS

• Don Fader

• Inken Meents

• With students from the CRR of Paris

The French cantata was all the rage in the 18th century and offered composers great scope, encompassing the French and Italian styles and both theatre and salon.

This Seminar brings together musicologists, writers and musicians with the aim of producing an overview of the genre and a reappraisal of performance in light of the research findings that have emerged over the past 20 years.

The sessions will share academic input and include work sessions with musicians in an exploration of the repertoire. The figure of the Regent, for example, will be studied. He was a patron of musicians and particularly fond of Italy and the cantata. Also a composer himself, his work has recently been brought to light by American musicologist Don Fader. An entire session will be devoted to his music.  

Activities alongside the Seminar include academic research (to produce a catalogue of the cantata and cantatilla), new CMBV publications and a teaching programme, in conjunction notably with the Paris  regional conservatoire.

A catalogue of the cantata and cantilla in France is being compiled. The first online version is due out in 2023.