Les Traversees Baroques - Ziani: La Morte vinta sul Calvario - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Domenico Mazzocchi's life and career are a prime example of the wealthy and sophisticated status of a highly educated musician in 17th century Rome. Protection by the Aldrobrandini, Barberini, Pamphilij and Borghese families gave him the reputation of a dilettante musician, self-taught or amateur, but his status without financial worries allowed him to compose freely without artistic constraints. The quality of his art is shown by the fact that his brother, who was the chapel master at St. Peter's and St. John Lateran, regularly asked him for musical help. Mazzocchi's main works are three volumes of madrigals, printed in Rome in 1638 and composed for five voices, the supreme discipline in madrigal composition. On the threshold of the traditional strictly polyphonic madrigal to the highly emotional style of a Monteverdi, Mazzocchi perfectly reflects the richness of the Roman culture of his time. The ensemble Les Traversées Baroques presents a selection of his madrigals in a wide variety of settings, from five singers a cappella to colorfully orchestrated movements with large continuo instrumentation.

Legendary country-folk-bluegrass musician Roscoe Holcomb's Smithsonian Folkways Recordings CD that features a collection of Holcombs music, including the 1961 vintage rendition of InchMan of Constant SorrowInch. a must for fans!

In 1650, seven years after Claudio Monteverdi's death, the Venetian Alessandro Vincenti, with the help of Francesco Cavalli, a student and successor of Monteverdi, decided to put together the compilation Messa a quattro voci et salmi. It was a unique tribute to Monteverdi. In an era when looking back was not fashionable, the preservation of written music was rare, and for the most part the names of dead musicians were quickly forgotten, Monteverdi's fame seemed to persist for a long time.In 1641, Monteverdi himself had compiled the collection Selva Morale et Spirituale. Perhaps he considered these to be the great treasures of his oeuvre. But there must have been many more. After all, music was always written for the Liturgy of the Hours (Liturgia Horarum) and for special occasions, and Monteverdi was not excepted from this practice. Cavalli and Vincenti had plenty to choose from when putting together this beautiful compilation, to which Cavalli added his own Magnificat.Alongside the Messa a quattro -church music in the old contrapuntal style - there is a lot of other beautiful music. We find the Confitebor in two different versions (Monteverdi was constantly modifying existing pieces) which gives us a nice insight into how he worked.We also know that Monteverdi looked back to the old contrapuntal techniques in his church music. The Laudate pueri, Laetatus sum, Nisi Dominus II and the Lauda Jerusalem for 5 voices are good examples of this. In contrast to this are the works where he looked forwards, where he translated the concertante practice into psalms such as Nisi Dominus I and the intoxicating Beatus vir. In the Laetatus sum, he let's the infinite possibilities over an infinitely repeating bass be heard. The second CD begins with a mass that was written as an opening piece for the Marian Vespers the Messa in illo tempore. And with this, we complete the circle. I