Vol. 1 & 2 The Catch Club or Merry Companions 1969 Second Printing Hardcover
being a choice collection of the most diverting catches for three and four voices
17th Century Music
No markings, no damaged pages, binding is tight, some age-related discoloration.
Each book measures about 9-1/2" x 8-5/8" x 1/2"
Hardcover, no dust jackets
Please see all photos.
Notes:
Two volume set (complete).
The contents include catches culled from more than a dozen popular-music books of the time, so that the two volumes together serve as an early eighteenth-century anthology (circa 1730) of seventeenth-century music.
This special reprint of the original collection includes in Part I an introduction outlining the development of canonical music as a social art form.
Representing a type of popular music in vogue during the reign of Charles II (1660-85), a typical catch is of an earthy and unblushing character.
Texts which appear to be merely simple tuneful songs (or clever verses when sung straightforwardly as simple tunes) can become highly comical, bawdy surprises when the tunes are sung as three- or four-part rounds, resulting in the interweaving of syllables, words, and phrases; a technique which "catches" singers in unexpected ribald vocal situations.
Often, as in the case of catches by such leading composers of the day as Henry Purcell and John Blow, the more unbashed the textual material, the greater the sophistication and artistic merit of the music. Part 1 contains an introduction to the Da Capo Edition by Joel Newman of the Columbia University Music Department and indexes of composers, poets, titles, and first lines, in addition to a listing of catches accompanied by voice requirements.