Lieder der Goethezeit für Gesang und Harfe
Einzelne Vertonungen für Harfe – Selected German songs for harp and voice
Felix Blangini: Werther
Werther. Cantate (à Voix seule) avec Accompagnement de Piano ou Harpe Composée et Dediée à Monsieur le Baron de la Ferté par Felix Blangini. Paris, chez l'autor.
Signature of the Bavarian State Library: 4 Mus. pr. 60119
Werther is a profane Italian cantata for a tenor voice and accompaniment for piano or harp. Of course, it cannot be considered as a lied, since the author himself titled it cantate. The text was written in Italian by Mº Balocchi Balocchi. This piece has, however, a German theme, since it is based on Goethe’s Die Leidenschaften des jungen Werthers. It was also composed while Blangini was working in Germany and the Goethezeit was in bloom. Felix Blangini was fond of writing music accompaniments for these two instruments, as he was aware that such a “double instrumentation” would raise the sales of his compositions.
As we do not wish to be excessively purist in this project, all these considerations led us to include this wonderful cantata in the present project.
Front page of Felix Blangini´s Werther. Cantate (Paris, no year).
With special permission of the Bavarian State Library.
