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Luca MARENZIO (1553 - 1599): Missa Jubilate, Magnificat sexti toni
Cappella Musicale della Cattedrale di Vercelli;
Federico Bagnasco, violone;
Stefano Demicheli, organ
Dir: Denis Silano
rec: Nov 16 - 18, 2018, Bassum, Stiftskirche
Dynamic - CDS7958 (© 2021) (69'07")
Liner-notes: E/IT; no lyrics
Cover, track-list & booklet
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[Christe Jesu benigne] a 6 (after Baci soavi e cari);
Jubilate Deo a 8 (versions A and B);
Magnificat 6. toni;
Magnificat 8. toni (two versions);
Missa Jubilate a 8
Federico Fiorio, Stefano Guadagni, cantus;
Enrico Torre, Gianluigi Ghiringhelli, altus;
Alberto Allegrezza, Raffaele Giordani, tenor;
Davide Benetti, Enrico Bava, bassus
Luca Marenzio is almost exclusively known for his madrigals. That is easy to understand: in his lifetime he was already a celebrity in this department, and a model for other composers. His madrigals found a wide dissemination across Europe and especially his early books with madrigals were frequently reprinted. However, he also left a subtantial amount of sacred music: four printed collections are known, two of which have been lost. In addition, there are a handful of masses and a few Magnificat settings.
Before turning to the disc under review, let us have a look at Marenzio's biography.
Marenzio was born in a village near Brescia. It seems that early in his career he was in the service of the Gonzaga family in Mantua for some time. He then entered the service of Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo in Trent, and followed his employer to Rome in the 1570s. When the Cardinal died in 1578 he became a member of the household of Cardinal Luigi d'Este, until the latter's death in 1586. At that time he made a name for himself as a composer of secular vocal music. Several collections of his works were published and his fame disseminated across Europe. He was also in demand as a performer: he not only was a professional singer, but also played the lute.
From 1587 to 1589 Marenzio was in Florence. There he participated in the festivities at the occasion of the wedding of Ferdinando de' Medici and Christine of Lorraine. These included the six intermedi to La Pellegrina, under the direction of Emilio de' Cavalieri. Marenzio composed the music for two of these intermedi. He then returned to Rome where he moved in the circles of cardinals and aristocrats. Around 1593 he entered the service of Cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandini who was a nephew of Pope Clement VIII. As a result he enjoyed a high standing at the papal court. In 1595 he became maestro di cappella at the court of the King of Poland. A year before his death he returned to Rome.
The present disc is connected to extensive research of two manuscripts preserved at the Archivio Capitolare at Vercelli. It resulted in the attribution of several pieces to Marenzio, which were not included in the complete edition of his works. One of them is the major item in the programme, the Missa Jubilate. It is a parody mass, like many masses from the renaissance period. It is based on Marenzio's own motet Jubilate Deo [servite], which exists in two versions. There has been some debate as to which of the two is the oldest. The addition of A and B attests to the traditional view of the chronological order, but Denis Silano, in his liner-notes, argues that it is the other way round, and that the B version is in fact the older of the two. Both are for eight voices in two choirs, but the cori spezzati technique is applied differently. In the A version the two choirs are more independent and more clearly split than in the B version. This may well be connected to the spaces where the respective settings were performed.
In his Missa Jubilate Marenzio makes use of material from both versions. Given the text, it does not surprise that the motet is rhythmically very lively, and this has left its mark on the mass. Marenzio treats the material with some liberty. "Unlike in other analogous works (...), here the polyphonic material of the two versions of the motet is never used without being varied, but it is elaborated contrapuntally in its single melodic elements (...)". The two choirs have substantial independence, but at some moments they sing a canon in unison (Benedictus, Agnus Dei). The scoring and the overall character of this work suggests that it was written for a special solemn occasion. This mass is one of the works that was excluded from the opera omnia. It was known from a manuscript in Trent; the presence of a copy of this work in the archive of Vercelli supports the attribution to Marenzio.
Jubilate Deo is not the only work which has been preserved in two versions. The same is the case with the Magnificat 8. toni. Both are for eight voices in two choirs, but one is much shorter than the other. Again, there is no unanimity with regard to the chronological order: some scholars believe that the shorter version is a reduction of the longer one, whereas others think that the longer version is an extension of the shorter one. Here Silano does not take sides. They are less different than the two versions of the Jubilate Deo; the two choirs have quite some independence, and the work includes several passages in which one choir echoes the other.
The work-list in New Grove mentions only two Magnificats for eight voices, one of them incomplete. The present disc offers another setting of this text, for six voices. It shows similarities with the Missa Jubilate, but the two choirs are more independent, and include echo effects. Silano suggests a connection to the Missa Iniquos odio habui, which may date from Marenzio's Polish years. Therefore this work may well have been written at about the same time.
Whereas all the pieces discussed so far were intended for liturgical use, Christe Jesu benigne is different. This is a specimen of a widespread practice: the replacement of a secular text by a sacred one - a so-called contrafactum. The best-known examples of this practice are the three collections Musica tolta da i Madrigali di Claudio Monteverde, e d'altri autori ... e fatta spirituale, in which madrigals by Monteverdi are given new spiritual texts by Aquilino Coppini. Apparently it is not known who wrote the spiritual text for this piece by Marenzio, originally Baci soavi e cari, one of his most popular madrigals. Its origin sets it stylistically apart from the other items in the programme. This is vocal chamber music.
That comes off pretty well in the performance. I have been delighted to hear some previous recordings of the Cappella Musicale della Cattedrale di Vercelli, and I am happy to say that this goes for this recording too. Recordings of Marenzio's sacred music are rare, and that makes this disc a very important addition to the discograpy, especially as a number of works have been recorded for the first time. It is a bonus that these pieces are performed so well, by an ensemble which consists here of only eight singers, and all male at that. The blending of the voices is immaculate, and the pregnant rhythms in the motets and the mass are perfectly realised, thanks to the flexibility and alertness of the singers. The solemn character of the mass has not been overlooked.
This disc is a perfect combination of research and performance.
Johan van Veen (© 2024)
Relevant links:
Cappella Musicale della Cattedrale di Vercelli