Publisher's Synopsis
One of the most productive and influential musicologists of our time, Daniel Heartz has published many important books and musical editions. But much of his finest work has taken the form of essays, which he has continued to produce throughout his long career. This volume presents a collection of Heartz's essays on musical theater in the eighteenth century, bringing together articles written during the third of a century from 1967 (From Garrick to Gluck) to 2001 (Melchior Grimm's La petit prophete de Boemischbroda, published here for the first time). Heartz has always sought, in both his teaching and his writing, to communicate with those outside musicology. His essays often deal with literature, painting, and architecture as well as music and he maintains an informed voice in all these disciplines. The editor has organized the material for easy access under five rubriques: Opera Buffa, Opera Seria, Opera-Comique, The Querelle des Bouffons, and Reform Operas. This volume has been designed not only to honor this great teacher-scholar on his seventy-fifth birthday (October 2002) but also as a convenient means for musicologists, music-lovers, eighteenth-century specialists, and students to find and read Heartz's work.
