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CD reviews
Natale MONFERRATO (1603 - 1685): "Salve Regina - Motetti a voce sola, Libro terzo"
Ensemble Céladon
Dir: Paulin Bündgen
rec: Oct 2018, Lyon, Lycée Saint-Louis-Saint-Bruno (chapel)
Ricercar - RIC 405 (© 2019) (62'13")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E/F
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
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Ad sonos (pro quotlibet Sancto);
Clamo ad te (de Beata Maria Virgine);
Convenite terrigenae (de Beata M. Virgine);
Jubilate Deo (de Beata Maria Virgine);
Propera Domine (de Sacramento);
Regina caeli;
Salve Regina;
Sic ergo Jesu (de Sacramento);
Vigila mortalis (in omni tempore)
Paulin Bündgen, alto;
Nolwenn Le Guern, viola da gamba;
Luc Gaugler, violone;
Marie-Domitille Murez, harp;
Florent Marie, theorbo;
Caroline Huynh Van Xuan, harpsichord, organ
One of the features of the historical performance movement has always been the curiosity about unknown repertoire and obscure composers. In the course of time, this movement has become mainstream, which is something to celebrate. However, it has also resulted in leading ensembles and performers confining themselves to standard repertoire. They seldom surprise us with discoveries of music we had not heard before or even had not heard of. Fortunately, there are still performers who are willing to leave the well-trodden paths and explore music which to date nobody bothered to perform. The present disc is a perfect example.
Natale Monferrato was a completely unknown quantity to me; I had not even heard his name. He has an entry in New Grove, but the information about him is very limited. That does not say anything about his importance. The very fact that he ended his career as maestro di cappella of San Marco in Venice already indicates that he must have been a major figure in the music scene of his time.
Monferrato was born in Venice in 1603. He was either a pupil of his brother Innocente or of Giovanni Rovetta. The latter is an important figure in his biography, because he was the successor of Monteverdi as maestro di cappella of San Marco, and when Rovetta died in 1668, Monferrato may have hoped to succeed him as he was made vicemaestro in 1647. However, it was Francesco Cavalli who was appointed instead. It was only in 1676, at the death of Cavalli, that Monferrato was finally appointed maestro di cappella. Jérôme Lejeune, in his liner-notes, suggests that Cavalli may have spent so much time to his second career as a composer of operas - in this capacity he was the informal successor of Monteverdi - that even during his time in office, Monferrato to a large extent may have been responsible for the organisation of the cappella of San Marco. It is notable that Cavalli's output in the realm of sacred music is rather limited, and most of his sacred works date from the time before he became maestro di cappella.
In comparison, Monferrati's oeuvre is much larger. He seems not to have written any secular or instrumental music. His extant oeuvre comprises fourteen printed collections of sacred works and some separate pieces which have been preserved in manuscript. Some of them include pieces in the stile antico, which was still very much in vogue, and compositions in the modern concertato style. The first collection in the stile nuovo is the Opus 3 of 1655, a set of 20 Motetti concertati for two and three voices and basso continuo. It was followed by two collections of motets for solo voice and basso continuo, which were printed with the addition of Libro I (Op. 4) and Libro III (Op. 6) respectively. The present disc includes nine motets from the latter edition, which was published in 1666 in Venice.
It is notable that the two books of solo motets include a remarkable number of pieces for alto. They outnumber the pieces for soprano; there are no motets for tenor and just two for bass. One wonders why, but Lejeune does make no attempt to explain it. From a historical point of view these motets are quite interesting. Most of them - at least of those included here - are not through-composed, as was customary at the time, but divided into several sections. This way they point in the direction of the cantata which was to develop in the second half of the 17th century. Some sections even bear the traces of a recitative, such as the fourth section of Ad sonos and on the words "Ora pro nobis Deum" before the concluding Alleluia in Regina caeli.
There are some other interesting features. One of them is that Monferrato sometimes uses the opening section as a kind of motto, which returns at several moments between different sections. Lejeune compares it with the use of a rondeau in later times. He also rightly points out the dramatic character of some pieces, which in his view bear witness to the influence of opera. That may well be true, but I also think that in some pieces the text inspired Monferrato to write strongly emotional music. A telling example is Sic ergo Jesu, which opens the programme. This has the addition de Sacramento, and like so many pieces about the Holy Sacrament (for instance Spanish villancicos), it has an almost exalting character. Something comparable is the case with pieces connected to the veneration of the Virgin Mary, such as the Salve Regina, which opens with extended coloratura on the first syllable, setting the tone for the whole piece. Exaltation of a different nature is the feature of Jubilate Deo, again connected to the veneration of Mary (de beata Maria Vergine).
In his personal notes, Paulin Bündgen adds some observations on Monferrato's music. The composer often makes use of repetition, for instance in the form of an echo; sometimes a closing figure is repeated twice. "These echoes are signalled in the score with the markings piano and più piano; such markings were seldom seen in the 17th century. When these markings are not included at such repetitions, we have assumed that Monferrato intended precisely the opposite: repeating the phrase with a louder dynamic." The second concerns Sic ergo Jesu, mentioned above. It ends on a unusually long chord of three semibreves tied together. "This indicates a clear wish of Monferrato to have the chord on the final vowel of the word refugium [refuge] (the final word of the motet) held as long as possible, like a feeling of quiet relief after the agitation, doubt and renunciation contained in the piece have subsided."
The performers decided to differ the line-up of the basso continuo according to the character of a piece. Sometimes it is just organ and viola da gamba, elsewhere a theorbo and a harp are involved. It would have been nice if the track-list had specified the line-up of every single piece. The instruments are also not specified. I would have liked to know what kind of organ Caroline Huynh Van Xuan plays. It sounds as if it is a quite large instrument - certainly larger than the small continuo organs mostly used in recordings like this. It is one of the assets of this recording.
This disc shows what today's music lover is missing when music like that by Monferrato is left untouched. His motets performed here are pretty exciting stuff. It is a bit of a mystery to me why his music has never been recorded before. Bündgen writes: "For a musician, this feeling of having gold in one's hands in the form of music of excellent
quality and, even better, that has never been published, is one of the greatest gifts possible. To bring a composer who has been forgotten back into the spotlight of public attention is a wonderfully exciting challenge." That is easy to understand, and I concur with his assessment that this is excellent music. The performances are excellent as well. I have greatly enjoyed this disc: I am impressed by the music and by the performances alike. For me, this is one of the most thrilling discs I have heard recently. I strongly recommend everyone to investigate it, and I very much hope that more of Monferrato's music will be recorded in the near future.
Johan van Veen (© 2020)
Relevant links:
Ensemble Céladon