Era: Baroque
Year: 1650
Form: Mixed (sonata, saraband, balleta, etc.)
Score: 83
Thoughts: Some fantastic simple arrangements. An Italian version of the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach almost. It also had some beautiful soaring arrangements like the O Mirandum Misterium. While lively and I'd totally listen to it again, it seemed to lack something with staying power. I do really appreciate the italian masters and do thing they were pivotal to setting the stage for Handel and Bach, etc. Many give all the power to those blokes, and while their works really are the pinnacle of Baroque, the theory of New Historicism says they likely wouldn't be who they were if it weren't for blokes like this.
Era: Baroque
Year: 1650
Form: Mixed (sonata, saraband, balleta, etc.)
Score: 83
Thoughts: Some fantastic simple arrangements. An Italian version of the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach almost. It also had some beautiful soaring arrangements like the O Mirandum Misterium. While lively and I'd totally listen to it again, it seemed to lack something with staying power. I do really appreciate the italian masters and do thing they were pivotal to setting the stage for Handel and Bach, etc. Many give all the power to those blokes, and while their works really are the pinnacle of Baroque, the theory of New Historicism says they likely wouldn't be who they were if it weren't for blokes like this.
Era: Baroque
Year: 1647
Form: Opera
Score: 83
Thoughts: Not to be confused by the Monteverdi opera of the same name. This was quite the intense work clocking in at 3hrs and 39min. And it wasn't boring... it felt like it had direction and wasn't plagued by too much recitative like most operas with this running length. Neither was it really my cup of tea. I did get a near soap opera vibe from it.
Era: Baroque
Year: 1641
Form: Oratorio
Score: 80
Thoughts: This was surprisingly slightly comical musically (meaning it had certain lively refrains or diction that had me taking the subject matter seriously.. not sure if that was written that way or if performed that way... as it went on the more serious it got). Anyway it was ok musicaly, and easily is a foundation upon which greater oratorios built on, but I probably wouldn't come back to it, even if the performance was solid (especially the soprano, Jill Feldman). The work itself was lacking and offensive (see below).
The lament was one of the most common forms of the Baroque, and often secular and sacred laments were more or less interchangeable; for example, Monteverdi used his famous aria from Arianna, Lasciatemi morir, as the basis of a sacred lament, the Lamento della Madonna. There was a strong commingling of sacred and secular loves in the Baroque, as exampled not only by these, but by the writings of St. Teresa of Avila, and paintings that portrayed female saints not only as holy women but objects of beauty and desire. In this, the second and most involved part is given to the lament of the Virgin Mary over Jesus' crucifixion (as in the Monteverdi), with scornful commentary from a chorus of demons.
These sacred laments were part of what we'd call today the reinventing of the Catholic church. While Masses were still celebrated in Latin, as was most of the music used to augment them, some oratorios were presented in Italian, rather than Latin, to have a more direct emotional effect. One Pope, Clement IX, even wrote libretti for such works.
The first part sets the scene, with the crowd calling for Barabbas to be released and Jesus to be crucified and Pontius Pilate objecting but finally yielding, closing with two arias and a chorus for demons. Pilate is made a sympathetic character, even a fallen hero, pleading in vain in agonized recitative and tormented by his sense of justice and his conscience. The crowd of Jews, however, is portrayed as a monstrous mob, singing the "Barbara a noi si dia" refrain with implacable insistence, and rejoicing over the impending crucifixion with crude, jubilant choruses. The resemblance of those choruses to those of the demons in the next passages is almost certainly not coincidence; the Reformation and Counter-Reformation had changed nothing in the attitudes of the majority of the Christian population of Europe towards Jews, and anti-Semitism was rife, particularly in music and drama. (In an even more overt example, in the contemporary cantata Lamento della madre ebrea, the final commentary from the narrator is that infanticide and cannibalism can only be expected from the members of the race that killed Jesus.) Immediately after, a demon describes, in recitative and arioso passages, the impending triumph of Hell, and the answering chorus, like that of the Jews, is made up largely of brief, almost crudely rhythmic lines imitating excited exclamation and chatter, and runs which imitate laughter.
The second part opens with a brief, somber, but lyrical prelude, leading into yet another lively arioso and chorus of demonic rejoicing. While this seems an unusual choice as it makes the break between the first and second part arbitrary, it probably made sense in the context of its presentation. With such lengthy oratorios, there was often a sermon between the first and second part, and so beginning where it left off not only brought the listeners immediately back into the drama, but also made the contrast of the Virgin's music and the demons' more immediate.
After this introduction, the Virgin's voice is heard in a quiet, pleading phrase, answered by yet another chorus. However, after this, she is given a lengthy, uninterrupted aria, with deeply moving lyrical lines over a continuo that imitates the sound of sobs and sighs. The music is openly emotional but still dignified, befitting her role as the mother of God as well as a lamenting mother of a dying child. As noted above, the text is often as suited for a lover's as a mother's lament, referring to Jesus as her heart as well as her son.
This pattern repeats three times, with a lengthy solo over a languishing accompaniment, the second with the occasionally fiery line as, almost insane with grief, she begs the word and iron of the cross to release her son, the third ending with a meltingly lovely aria, but both answered by the lively mockery of the demons. Her last solo has a relatively brief recitative and ends with another plaintive aria, again one that could easily be inserted into a secular lover's cantata.
As was common, the oratorio ends with a moral, in this case, a densely written extended madrigal that tells the listeners to weep over these torments and that suffering and pain leads to heavenly reward.
When portraying the crucifixion and death of Jesus, pre-Enlightenment artists, whether sculptors, painters, or composers, aimed for a direct emotional impact by dwelling on the agony that Christ and his followers, including Mary, underwent. In many such works, the purpose was twofold: to increase the individual viewer or listener's sense of guilt and repentance for his or her sins and to make Christ's sacrifice all the more vivid and emotionally rending. Rossi focused, quite successfully, on the second aim with this work; the listener identifies solely with Mary's grief rather than with the crowds who demand Jesus' death.
While most theologians now interpret the crowds who called for Jesus' death as representing all humanity rather than Jews, and a contemporary audience will find the anti-Semitic sentiments especially distasteful, the music remains nonetheless among the most effective Roman penitential oratorios of the Baroque age.
-Anne Feeney, AllMusic
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Era: Baroque
Year: 1640
Form: Duets and Cantatas
Score: 80
Thoughts: While this was pleasant, the recording was quite poor. It distorted constantly... which on one hand showed how powerful these singers were but likely on the other hand how poorly recorded. The performances themselves were pretty good. The music itself again was pleasant but nothing to write home about.
While the text takes one image, the heart as a sea, and goes slightly overboard with it (sorry), Carissimi gave the setting more variety, though he does frame it by repeating the opening verse at the end of the piece. In doing so, he demonstrates the near-complete break between the Baroque and the Renaissance in how text was treated; he repeats the opening verse, though the text does not do so, the ornamentation is placed according to the shape of the musical line rather than the meaning of the text, and when the text repeats a structure, the music does not necessarily do the same. Similarly, he uses the two voices solely for the musical effect; there is no textual logic behind whether they are using solo lines, imitation, or harmony. However, he is careful to maintain the sense and overall imagery of the text, with gently sinking lines that suggest the fall of tears, and while he doesn't word-paint on every word that could lend itself to it, he does use the technique effectively on "lagrime" (tears) and "turbano" (shake). One could even argue that he reinforces the overall image of the heart as a sea of tears by the way that he leads up to one musical expectation and instead of the predicted conclusion, returns to the theme associated with the first statement of "Il mio core..." as he does at the end of the second verse. While the interplay of the two voices is decidedly unadventuresome, it is very pleasing and creates just the right effect of languid amorousness.
-Anne Feeney, AllMusic
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Era: Baroque
Year: 1640 (likely published, written in early 1600s)
Form: Keyboard Music in multiple forms
Score: 80 (this is just being harsh... probably more like an 83.7)
Thoughts: While definitely amazing for it's time (nearly 80 years before Bach/Handel really wrote their impressive keyboard music), I think the resolves it made often "dumbed" it down if that makes any sense, but it makes sense for the time given the polyphony styles resolving on the tonic, etc. Still quite good.
Girolamo Frescobaldi was a major composer from the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods whose keyboard works rank among the most important of his time. His sacred and secular vocal music is generally assessed to be less important but still significant. Frescobaldi appears to have learned much of his deft contrapuntal skill and harmonic boldness from his teacher Luzzaschi. The 12 Fantasie (1608) are notable for their brilliantly wrought counterpoint, but also for their somewhat arid intellectual character. The two books of Toccate, from 1615 and 1627, are both innovative, with the latter set showing greater structural complexity.
Frescobaldi was born in Ferrara probably in mid-September, 1583. His first teacher was likely his father, believed to be an organist. Girolamo became something of a child prodigy on the organ and was taken on as a pupil by Court organist Luzzasco Luzzaschi, who was also a respected composer.
At 14 Frescobaldi became organist at the Academia della Morte in Ferrara. With a prodigious talent and an apparently strong desire to further his career, he decided to travel to Rome in about 1599. Not much is known about his early years there. From January till June, 1607, he served as organist at Santa Maria in Trastevere. He might have continued in the position but for an offer from his friend and arts patron, Guido Bentivoglio, Archbishop of Rhodes. Bentivoglio departed Rome for Flanders on June 11, 1607, with Frescobaldi accompanying him as part of his entourage, intending to enter his service as a musician with duties not entirely clear. In 1608 the young composer's first works were published, a collection of madrigals and three canzonas, which appeared in Alessandro Raverji's publication, Canzoni.
Frescobaldi stayed in Brussels for less than a year, returning to Rome to assume the post of organist (October 31, 1608) at the Cappella Giulia at St. Peter's in Rome, thanks to the efforts of the influential Bentivoglio family. The organist's position was not a high-paying one, but finances were hardly a problem now: with his appointment to St. Peter's came service for Enzo Bentivoglio, ambassador to Rome from Ferrara. That position involved teaching the musicians in the ambassador's musical group or concertino.
In about 1612, Frescobaldi began employment for the wealthy Cardinal Aldobrandini, who paid him nearly twice the salary he earned from his organist post at St. Peter's. On February 18, 1613, Frescobaldi married Orsola del Pino, who had already given birth to his son and was pregnant with a second child. With publication in 1615 of ten Ricercari and five Canzoni, both for keyboard, Frescobaldi's growing prominence clearly placed him in the forefront of Italian musicians.
For the next 13 years, the composer would experience his most productive period, turning out collections of ricecars, canzonas and other works. In 1624, his 12 Capriccios for keyboard appeared, and three years later, volume two of his Toccatas. On November 28, 1628, the composer departed to become Court organist in Florence, having been granted a leave from St. Peter's. Not much is known about his six-year stint in Florence, though he produced the two volumes of arias and other vocal works there, Arie musicali. The composer returned to his St. Peter's post in April, 1634.
Frescobaldi's keyboard collection, Canzoni da sonare, was published in late that same year. Other important publications would come now as well, including the 12 Toccate, (two volumes) of 1637, which were reissues of the earlier ones. That same year he also began teaching Vienna Court organist Johann Jacob Froberger, who would study with him until 1641. Frescobaldi died on March 1, 1643.
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Era: Baroque
Year: 1638
Form: See title...
Score: 80
Thoughts: If nothing else, the soprano in Miserere was piercingly beautiful. It took me a bit to get back almost to Renaissance music as there were no instruments in this piece, only vocal polyphony. The ocean of beautiful sound must've been so beautiful to listen to live.
Era: Baroque
Year: 1633
Form: I actually couldn't figure this one out...
Score: 86
Thoughts: This was lively and a beautiful change to what I've been listening to. The arrangements seem near modern, but likely are building off Troubadour type music of previous times. At the same time it had some kind of cohesiveness to it. Something I'd like to come back to.
Quote:
Reviewer: Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
Abridged version-:
"Figueras's approach in the intricate and colourful melodic strands of the 'concerted' pieces is impetuous but effectively paced too. The result is at times little short of spellbinding: Su la cetra amorosa is executed with all the considerable virtuosity, energy and emotional intensity it deserves, complemented moreover by an exciting and fluent dialogue with a solo cornett. She thrives on the momentum of the ostinato bass, especially one which is treated to such free articulation and improvisatory liberties as this. Also impressive is her ability to judge the fine line between comedy and despair in Quando gli uccelli portaranno i zoccoli (''When birds wear clogs''), where Merula's slightly bizarre sense of humour and a proven sense of irony are exhibited to the full. If there is a drawback to Figueras's freestyle it is the tendency to force her tone, especially in simpler strophic forms whose abstraction can highlight deficiencies in intonation and tonal quality. Ensemble can be a little ropey, too, but the overall richness of musical timbre and freedom of expression is what ultimately prevails. Well worth investigating."
http://www.classicalacarte.net/Fiches/9862.htm
Era: Baroque
Year: 1629
Form: Sacred vocal music in various forms
Score: 85
Thoughts: This was quite the body of work. Lively and beautiful, and for a 90 min run time it was never dull due to it's lush orchestrations.
Era: Baroque
Year: 1640
Form: Duets and Cantatas
Score: 80
Thoughts: While this was pleasant, the recording was quite poor. It distorted constantly... which on one hand showed how powerful these singers were but likely on the other hand how poorly recorded. The performances themselves were pretty good. The music itself again was pleasant but nothing to write home about.
While the text takes one image, the heart as a sea, and goes slightly overboard with it (sorry), Carissimi gave the setting more variety, though he does frame it by repeating the opening verse at the end of the piece. In doing so, he demonstrates the near-complete break between the Baroque and the Renaissance in how text was treated; he repeats the opening verse, though the text does not do so, the ornamentation is placed according to the shape of the musical line rather than the meaning of the text, and when the text repeats a structure, the music does not necessarily do the same. Similarly, he uses the two voices solely for the musical effect; there is no textual logic behind whether they are using solo lines, imitation, or harmony. However, he is careful to maintain the sense and overall imagery of the text, with gently sinking lines that suggest the fall of tears, and while he doesn't word-paint on every word that could lend itself to it, he does use the technique effectively on "lagrime" (tears) and "turbano" (shake). One could even argue that he reinforces the overall image of the heart as a sea of tears by the way that he leads up to one musical expectation and instead of the predicted conclusion, returns to the theme associated with the first statement of "Il mio core..." as he does at the end of the second verse. While the interplay of the two voices is decidedly unadventuresome, it is very pleasing and creates just the right effect of languid amorousness.
-Anne Feeney, AllMusic
I'm not always a fan of vocal music (at least before the hard rock era), but this was quite enjoyable despite the flaws.
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Fischman
