PROGRAM INFORMATION: During the summer of 1610, whilst in the service of the Gonzagas, Claudio Monteverdi (Cremona, 1567 - Venice, 1643) had what would become one of the most renowned collections of liturgical and sacred music of all times printed: the Sanctissimae Virgini Missa senis vocibus ad ecclesiarum Choros ac Vespere pluribus decantandae cum nonnullis sacris concentibus ad sacella sive Principum cubicula accomodata (Venice, Amadino), more commonly known as the Messa e vespri della Beata Vergine. Dedicated to Pope Paul V, it was probably planned as a means to achieve professional and personal goals. The present complete recording of the Messa e vespri della Beata Vergine is based on the most recent knowledge about it. Of the many suggestions that this extraordinary anthology of sacred music provides, we have privileged two: firstly its liturgical and devotional context, for which it was undoubtedly composed; secondly the link with Mantua and its court. The recording was made during a Vespers service for the Assumption (15th August 2006), and a solemn Mass dedicated to S. Barbara; this was not celebrated but performed in a liturgical setting (7th October 2007). In both cases Monteverdi’s compositions dialogued with liturgical passages in plainsong: antiphons (Vespers), and passages from the Proper (Mass). In both cases, these parts were taken from the monodic repertoire that Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga (1538-1587) wanted modified for the Court’s collegiate church, S. Barbara (Mantua, Diocesan Archives). To avoid possible misunderstandings, this does not mean that all the pieces contained in the Messa e vespri della Beata Vergine were composed for that church. Guided, in fact, by the firm conviction that the pieces contained in Monteverdi’s sacred collections can be used in limitless liturgical contexts (Re: Monteverdi, Vesperae de Confessore, Dynamic CDS 543, 2006), we chose to put the accent on the historical and liturgical contexts in which Monteverdi operated in 1610. The three CDs have been organised in such a way as to reach a compromise between a comfortable listening pace and the pace of the actual celebrations.
Track List: CD1: - VESPERAE BEATAE MARIAE VIRGINIS (IN FESTO ASSUMPTIONIS) 67:11 CD2: - VESPERAE BEATAE MARIAE VIRGINIS (IN FESTO ASSUMPTIONIS) 61:33 CD3: - MISSA IN ILLO TEMPORE (IN FESTO SANCTAE BARBARAE) 52:52
Vespro e Missa della Beata Vergine
