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NICOLO CORRADINI
(d. 1646)
1.
Spargite flores
4:19
from Motetti… libro primo (Venice, 1613)
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
(1567-1643)
2.
Venite, sitientes ad aquas
4:09
from Seconda raccolta de sacri canti (Venice, 1624)
GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA
(1525/26-1594)
3.
Pulchra es amica mea
4:34
with divisions by Francesco Rognoni (d. after 1626)
from Selva di varii passaggi (Milan, 1620)
ALESSANDRO GRANDI
(1586-1630)
4.
Jesu, mi dulcissime
3:20
from Motetti… con sinfonie… libro secondo (Vencie, 1625)
MICHELANGELO ROSSI
(c. 1602-1656) attrib.
5.
Partite sopra la Romanesca
2:43
from a MS appended to Toccate et correnti (Rome, 1657)
TARQUINIO MERULA
(1594/95-1665)
6.
Nigra sum
3:53
from Il primo libro de motetti e sonate concertati (Venice, 1624)
ALESSANDRO PICCININI
(1566-c. 1638)
7.
Toccata XII
2:34
from Intavolatura di liuto, et di chitarrone, libro primo (Bologna, 1623)
IGNATIO DONATI
(c. 1570-1638)
8.
O gloriosa Domina
3:30
from Flores praestantissimorum (Milan, 1626)
GIOVANNI BATTISTA BOVICELLI
(fl. 1592-1594)
9.
Angelus ad pastores
4:05
Sacred contrafactum and divisions on Anchor che col partire by Cipriano de Rore (1515/16-1565)
from Regole, passaggi di musica, madrigali et motetti passeggiati (Venice, 1594)
GIROLAMO FRESCOBALDI
(1583-1643)
10.
Canzona 'La Bernardinia'
3:03
from Il primo libro delle canzoni (Rome, 1628)
GIOVANNI PICCHI
(fl. 1600-1625)
11.
Toccata
4:31
from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
BENEDETTO RE
(fl. early 17th c.)
12.
Tulerunt Dominum
3:19
from Sacrum cantionum (Venice, 1618)
GIROLAMO FRESCOBALDI
13.
Canzona 'La Capriola'
3:29
from Il primo libro delle canzoni (Rome, 1628)
GIOVANNI GIROLAMO KAPSPERGER
(c. 1580-1651)
14.
Toccata VII
3:58
from Libro quarta d'intavolatura di chitarrone (Rome, 1640)
ARCHANGELO CROTTI
(fl. 1608)
15.
Congratulamini
3:52
from Il primo libro de'concerti ecclesiastici (Venice, 1608)
GIROLAMO FRESCOBALDI
16.
Toccata I
3:46
from Il secondo libro di toccate (Rome, 1637)
TARQUINIO MERULA
17.
Gaudeamus omnes
3:23
from a MS in Kremsmünster, Austria
63:24
Chamber: Gonzaga Band
Faye Newton soprano
Jamie Savan treble cornet - mute cornet
Richard Sweeney theorbo
Steven Devine harpsichord - organ
2-4 April 2008
Notes
SACRED GARLAND:
The Gonzaga Band was formed by the cornettist Jamie Savan in 1997 to explore historical approaches to the performance of vocal and instrumental music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. While the nucleus of the band is made up of Steven Devine, Richard Sweeney and Faye Newton alongside Jamie Savan, the line-up is flexible and will expand according to the specific requirements of each programme. Jamie Savan comments... ‘Catherine Bott once described our blend of cornett and voice as that of “two soprano instruments”, matched in “dazzling duet”.’ The ensemble takes its name from the Gonzaga family who were Dukes of Mantua in the late Renaissance period. They were powerful and influential patrons of the arts and employed Monteverdi as their maestro di cappella. During that period the musical establishment was the envy of the world. Here The Gonzaga Band plays devotional pieces by Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Merula, Grandi, and others – a veritable ‘Sacred Garland’.
The Gonzaga Band was formed by cornettist Jamie Savan in 1997, in order to explore historical approaches to the performance of vocal and instrumental music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its line-up is flexible: the musicians heard on this recording – Steven Devine, Richard Sweeney and Faye Newton besides Jamie Savan himself – form the nucleus of the group, which expands on occasion to include other leading vocal and period-instrument specialists according to the specific requirements of each programme. Jamie Savan commented on the recording, ‘Catherine Bott once described our blend of cornett and voice as that of “two soprano instruments” matched “in dazzling duet”. We hope our recording will live up to this high praise.’
The ensemble takes its name from the Gonzaga Dukes of Mantua, who were powerful and influential patrons of the arts in the late Renaissance period. The Gonzaga family employed Claudio Monteverdi as their maestro di cappella, and he presided over a musical establishment that was, for a time, the envy of the world.
For this collection The Gonzaga Band has chosen some of the most beautiful music from the dawn of the baroque era in Italy. Some of the composers, such as Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Merula and Grandi, are well known today. Others, such as Nicolò Corradini, Benedetto Re and Archangelo Crotti, are minor masters whose music has been unjustly forgotten.
All the composers represented on this disc share a gift for writing accessible, tuneful music for solo voice with obbligato instruments. The challenge is for the instrumentalist to play as vocally as possible, whilst the singer needs an instrumentalist’s technique to negotiate the virtuosic demands of this repertoire. The Gonzaga Band successfully meets this challenge in Sacred Garland.
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Reviews
“A hugely enjoyable disc from an excellent young ensemble. I look forward to much more.”
Stephen Cassidy
Early Music Review - November 2009
“Soprano Faye Newton sings with lissom tone and perfect diction a line equal in power to her partner Jamie Savan on the cornett. The dance increases in potency with the verses. Savan produces the most seductive sound especially in the sinuous melody of his solo item Palestrina’s Pulchra es. Theorbo player Richard Sweeney touches the strings with soft fingers in the Toccatas”
Rick Jones
Classic FM Magazine - October 2009
“Faultless and fascinating – must have music by Monteverdi’s contemporaries.” “Faye Newton sings delightfully, and the players – especially Savan on the cornett are impossible to fault. Great Stuff!” Richard Lawrence
Gramophone - October 2009
“Recorded in the Church of St Andrew, Toddington, with just the right mix of intimacy and spaciousness, ‘Sacred Garland’ …is one of those discs which so perfectly seems to capture an entire lost world in microcosm.”
Robert Levett
International Record Review - October 2009
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