Archive for Giovanni Gabrieli

1640 Vespers

Posted in News with tags , , , , , , on January 1, 2012 by Craig Zeichner

In 17th-century Italy, vespers (the chief evening service of  the Office, the daily cycle of prayer) were celebrated with lavish music on special feasts. A vespers service contains an introit, five psalms that are framed by chant antiphons, a hymn and the Magnificat. Those are the basics. What composers have done with those psalms, hymns and Magnificat has resulted in some of the most thrilling music of the period.

Perhaps the most famous of all Vespers settings is the Vespro della Beata Vergine of Claudio Monteverdi. The Green Mountain Project’s 2010 concert commemorating the 400th anniversary of the publication of Monteverdi’s Vespers was one of the finest performances of the work I’ve ever heard. The Green Mountain Project is a consortium of some of the finest performers on the early music scene and is anchored by Tenet, the excellent New York-based vocal ensemble. Last January the group again presented the 1610 Vespers and released a recording of the 2010 performance. You can buy this marvelous recording at the Tenet website. Here’s what I wrote about it last year.

The 1610 Vespers are on hiatus this year, but on January 3rd, 4th (NY) and 7th (MA)  the Green Mountain Project will present A Grand Festive Vespers in Venice, c. 1640. As much as I adore the 1610 Vespers, this new program has me very excited. Music Director Scott Metcalfe and Artistic Director Jolle Greenleaf have created a Marian Vespers for the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, based on the 1610 model. Monteverdi won’t be left by the wayside though, music from his spectacular collection of sacred works Selva morale e spirituale (published 1640/41) will be featured. Fans of the 1610 Vespers will also get to hear his setting of the hymn Ave maris stella. I’m also very excited about the other music on the program too. The Venetian master Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1555 – 1612) and Milanese composer-nun Chiara Margarita Cozzolani (1602 – c.1676) will also be featured.

I heard Gabrieli here

The inclusion of Gabrieli and Cozzolani is particularly thrilling for me. One of my greatest musical memories was hearing Gabrieli’s music at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice. Surrounded by Tintoretto paintings we were bathed in Gabrieli’s brilliant polychoral writing. Cozzolani may be the hidden treasure on the program. Her story is remarkable and her music sublime (Robert Kendrick’s excellent essay is a good place to learn more about her). For years I’ve been grabbing any Cozzolani recordings I could find and, thankfully her discography has grown over the years. Who knows? Maybe there’s a Cozzolani Vespers yet to happen. Monteverdi, Gabrieli, Cozzolani and the Green Mountain Project. This one is going to be a winner.

Tickets for all the Green Mountain Project concerts are available on their website.

Here are some highlights of the 2011 performance of the 1610 Vespro della Beata Vergine.

Leave a comment »

A kick in the sagbutt

Posted in Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2010 by Craig Zeichner

I couldn’t resist the puerile wordplay in the title. It must be the blizzard that’s  covering New York City taking me back to my youth…A new recording by His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts (HMSC) with the Purcell Quartet and Chordophony has me thinking about Giovanni Gabrieli and things Venetian.

Venice is on my mind a lot these days. Much of my listening has been Venetian music. I’m writing a story about Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata Vergine and have been sampling lots of recordings of the work. I’m not suggesting the Vespers were written for San Marco – the genesis of the Vespers is a story unto itself and you’ll have to read my article to get the scoop on that – but Monteverdi and Venice are certainly bound together.

The blessed Monteverdi

Another composer who is synonymous with Venice is Giovanni Gabrieli (b. c.1554-7; d. 1612). I grew up with two recordings of Gabrieli’s music: The Glory of Gabrieli had the Edward Tarr Brass Ensemble, Gregg Smith Singers and organist E. Power Biggs in a program of canzoni and motets that were actually recorded in San Marco in Venice.

Gabrieli from Biggs and company

My other “go-to” Gabrieli record was Processional and Ceremonial Music with the Choir and Orchestra of the Gabrieli Festival under the direction of Edmond Appia. The LP was available on the old Bach Guild of Vanguard Classics, it cost $2.99 and I played it until the groves wore out.

A Gabrieli bargain

This new recording of music from Canzoni per sonare con ogni sorte di stromenti (a 1608 publication by Alessandro Raverii), which features works by Gabrieli and his contemporaries, excites me the same way. Raverii was a crafty publisher, and in its day the collection appealed to a broad spectrum of musicians because of the “ogni sorte di stromenti” (all kinds of instruments) tag. The collection contained 36 canzonas by 12 composers, and all the composers are represented on the recording. These include a good cross-section of respected and recently deceased (in 1608) elders (Claudio Merulo, Luzzasco Luzzaschi and Florentio Maschera), a sampling of respected contemporaries (Gabrieli and Gioseffo Guami) and a taste of the interesting youngsters (Girolamo Frescobaldi, Pietro Lappi and Orindio Bartolini).

Many of the Gabrieli pieces are well-known but the HMSC play them with a freshness and vitality that make such old favorites as the Canzon Prima ‘La Spiritata’ à 4 and Canzon Seconda à 4 really open your ears and remind you of how damned good Gabrieli was. The lesser-known works are great finds too. I never heard much of Lappi but the peppery Canzon Undecima ‘La Scrasina’ à 4 played by the Purcell Quartet and elegant Canzon Vigesimaesta ‘La Negrona’ à 4 played by Chordophony, (a lute quartet) are keepers.

The mix of instrumental combinations makes the recording very appealing. Instead of listening to 20+ pieces scored for sagbutts and cornetts in a row, there are works for strings, lutes and an occasional keyboard tossed into the mix. Like I said, HMSC are outstanding throughout. They are one of the preeminent ensembles playing this music and it’s nice to hear them stretch out on this album.

Giovanni Gabrieli

New Yorkers take note. His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts will be performing with the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys on March 19th. The program? Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata Vergine.

His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts

Leave a comment »