Ellen T. Harris is Class of 1949 Professor and Head of Music and Theater Arts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This book deserves triple applause: first for revealing a shockingly neglected portion of Handel repertoire--nearly a hundred cantatas, almost all overlooked--secondly for opening the door to the social and sexual context of this writing, and revealing, if not Handel's private life, at least the surrounding atmosphere and mores of his aristocratic patrons; and thirdly for enlivening it with the true enthusiasm of a musician as well as a musicologist.

• * Acknowledgments * Note on the Musical Examples * Prologue: "The Ways of the World" *1. Code Names and Assumed Identities *2. Women's Voices/Men's Voices *3. Pastoral Lovers *4. Cantata Couples and Love Triangles *5. Silence and Secrecy *6. Culmination of the Private * Epilogue: "True Representation" * Appendix 1: Cantata Chronology * Appendix 2: Texts and Translations of the Continuo Cantatas * Bibliographic Abbreviations * Notes * Title Index of Handel's Cantatas, Duets, and Trios * General Index

Ellen T. Harris is Class of 1949 Professor and Head of Music and Theater Arts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This book deserves triple applause: first for revealing a shockingly neglected portion of Handel repertoire--nearly a hundred cantatas, almost all overlooked--secondly for opening the door to the social and sexual context of this writing, and revealing, if not Handel's private life, at least the surrounding atmosphere and mores of his aristocratic patrons; and thirdly for enlivening it with the true enthusiasm of a musician as well as a musicologist.

• * Acknowledgments * Note on the Musical Examples * Prologue: "The Ways of the World" *1. Code Names and Assumed Identities *2. Women's Voices/Men's Voices *3. Pastoral Lovers *4. Cantata Couples and Love Triangles *5. Silence and Secrecy *6. Culmination of the Private * Epilogue: "True Representation" * Appendix 1: Cantata Chronology * Appendix 2: Texts and Translations of the Continuo Cantatas * Bibliographic Abbreviations * Notes * Title Index of Handel's Cantatas, Duets, and Trios * General Index

Ellen T. Harris is Class of 1949 Professor and Head of Music and Theater Arts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This book deserves triple applause: first for revealing a shockingly neglected portion of Handel repertoire--nearly a hundred cantatas, almost all overlooked--secondly for opening the door to the social and sexual context of this writing, and revealing, if not Handel's private life, at least the surrounding atmosphere and mores of his aristocratic patrons; and thirdly for enlivening it with the true enthusiasm of a musician as well as a musicologist.

• * Acknowledgments * Note on the Musical Examples * Prologue: "The Ways of the World" *1. Code Names and Assumed Identities *2. Women's Voices/Men's Voices *3. Pastoral Lovers *4. Cantata Couples and Love Triangles *5. Silence and Secrecy *6. Culmination of the Private * Epilogue: "True Representation" * Appendix 1: Cantata Chronology * Appendix 2: Texts and Translations of the Continuo Cantatas * Bibliographic Abbreviations * Notes * Title Index of Handel's Cantatas, Duets, and Trios * General Index