Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests
eBook - PDF

Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests

The Supernatural in Eighteenth-Century Musical Theater

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests

The Supernatural in Eighteenth-Century Musical Theater

About this book

Drawing on hundreds of operas, singspiels, ballets, and plays with supernatural themes, Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests argues that the tension between fantasy and Enlightenment-era rationality shaped some of the most important works of eighteenth-century musical theater and profoundly influenced how audiences and critics responded to them.

David J. Buch reveals that despite—and perhaps even because of—their fundamental irrationality, fantastic and exotic themes acquired extraordinary force and popularity during the period, pervading theatrical works with music in the French, German, and Italian mainstream. Considering prominent compositions by Gluck, Rameau, and Haydn, as well as many seminal contributions by lesser-known artists, Buch locates the origins of these magical elements in such historical sources as ancient mythology, European fairy tales, the Arabian Nights, and the occult. He concludes with a brilliant excavation of the supernatural roots of Mozart's The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, building a new foundation for our understanding of the magical themes that proliferated in Mozart's wake. 

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Yes, you can access Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests by David J. Buch in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Media & Performing Arts & Classical Music. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. List of Illustrations
  3. Preface
  4. Abbreviations
  5. Introduction: Precedents & Sources of Magic & the "Marvelous"
  6. 1. L'Academie Royale de Musique
  7. 2. Opera-comique
  8. 3. Italian Serious Genres
  9. 4. Italian Comic Genres
  10. 5. German Musical Theater
  11. 6. The Supernatural in the Operas of Mozart
  12. Postscript: The Significance & Influence of Supernatural Topics
  13. Appendix A: Chronological List of Operas, Ballets, Comedies, Feeries, Pantomimes, & Other Plays with Magic & Supernatural Content, 1699-1791
  14. Appendix B: Selected Italian Circe, Medea & Orpheus Operas, 1700-1791
  15. Appendix C; Operas Based on Ariosto & Tasso, 1700-1791
  16. Appendix D: Some Eighteenth-Century Italian Don Juan Settings
  17. Appendix E: Chronological List of German Theatrical Works with Magic & Supernatural Content, 1728-92
  18. Bibliography
  19. Index