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"Harmonies of Devotion"

Contrapunctus
Dir: Owen Rees

rec: June 26 - 28, 2021, Oxford, Queen's College (chapel)
Signum Classics - SIGCD914 (© 2024) (71'10")
Liner-notes: E; lyrics - translations: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Ercole BERNABEI (1622-1687): Tribulationes cordis mei; Giovanni Paolo COLONNA (1637-1695): Victimae paschali laudes; Giovanni LEGRENZI (1626-1690): Ave Regina caelorum [3]; Converte nos Deus; Intret in conspectu tuo; Quam amarum est Maria [2]; Salve Regina [3]; Antonio LOTTI (1666-1740): Credo in F (Crucifixus a 8); Crucifixus a 5; Claudio MONTEVERDI (1567-1643): Adoramus te Christe (SV 289) [1]; Cantate Domino (SV 293) [1]; Christe, adoramus te (SV 294) [1]; Domine, ne in furore tuo (SV 298) [1]; Agostino STEFFANI (1654-1728): Qui diligit Mariam Sources: [1] Giulio Cesare Bianchi, Libro primo de motetti in lode d'Iddio nostro Signore: a una, due, tre, quattro, cinque e à otto voci, 1620; Giovanni Legrenzi, [2] Harmonia d’affetti devoti, op. 3, 1655; [3] Compiete con le lettanie & antifone della B[eata] V[ergine], Op. 7, 1662

Charlotte Ashley, Amy Haworth, Esther Lay, soprano; Helen Charlston, contralto; Guy Cutting, Simon Wall tenor; Giles Underwood, Simon Whiteley, bass; Eligio Quinteiro, lute; Stephen Farr, Edward Higginbottom, organ

One of the features of music life in England in the last decades of the 17th century and the 18th century was the existence of musical societies: organizations of professionals and advanced amateurs which performed music in private environments or in public concerts. One of the most famous was the Academy of Ancient Music. As the name suggests, its members were especially interested in music of the past. It was founded with the name Academy of Vocal Music, which indicates what kind of repertoire it was in the centre of attention.

The disc to be reviewed here documents that its aim was, to quote New Grove, "to revive the glories of 16th- and 17th-century sacred music and madrigals." The Academy was founded in 1726, when some of the composers whose motets are included in the programme, had already died. It also bears witness to the interest in Italian music. With time the interest shifted to more contemporary works, such as those by Giovanni Bononcini, who participated in its activities during his sojourn in London. Owen Rees four of his compositions with the modern namesake of the Academy of Ancient Music ("How are the mighty fallen"). For the present disc he turned to older repertoire which is part of the archive of the Academy of Ancient Music, most of which is now part of the library of Westminster Abbey.

The earliest pieces in the programma are from the pen of Claudio Monteverdi, one of the main representatives of the seconda pratica, as he himself called it, which was born around 1600. Four specimens of his sacred music are included, which are rather well-known. The motets Adoramus te, Christe and Christe, adoramus te are both connected to the elevation of the Host at Mass; their content is very much alike. Domine, ne in furore tuo is a more dramatic piece, reflecting the text, which is taken from Psalm 3. Cantate Domino is another textbook example of Monteverdi's skills in illustrating a text, this time of an entirely different nature.

The other composers in the programme are in one way or another indebted to Monteverdi, even though their style is different. However, they still are keen to depict elements in the text, and to use harmony for expressive reasons. Antonio Lotti is one of the latest composers in the programme, who was an important figure in Venetian music life; he was still very much alive when the Academy was founded. His name is connected with the downfall of the above-mentioned Bononcini. In 1731 a madrigal by Antonio Lotti was performed, which some years earlier had been performed as well, but then as a work by Bononcini. The composer and his friend Maurice Green, who had introduced the piece to the Academy, were discredited, and Bononcini left for France. When Lotti was asked through a letter whether he was indeed the composer of the madrigal, he was also invited to send specimens of his music. As a copy of his five-part Crucifixus has been found in the library of Westminster Abbey, that may have been one of the pieces he sent to the Academy. Several settings of this text by Lotti are known, and are regularly performed; these are taken from mass settings. The setting included here seems to be a separate work, and is recorded here for the first time. The better-known setting for eight voices is also in the programme.

Other composers in the programme may be lesser-known. That goes even for Giovanni Legrenzi, although pieces from his collection of sonatas with the title of La Cetra are regularly played and recorded. His vocal music is hardly known; since fairly recently it is attracting increasing interest from performers. Naxos released two discs with his Op. 3 and Op. 7 respectively, and in this production some pieces from both colletions are included. The title of the latter, Compiete, indicates that it was intended for liturgical use, and this explains pieces such as Ave regina coelorum and Salve regina, two of the four Marian antiphons. The latter includes a phrase which no composer forgot to depict in the music, and Legrenzi is no exception. The Op. 3, with the title Harmonia d'affetti devoti, was published in 1655; most of the texts were probably from Legrenzi's own pen. Except a setting of the Salve Regina, these pieces were para-liturgical. The scorings are for one to four voices and basso continuo. Quam amarum est Maria is for Easter, and is a dialogue between Mary of Magdalene and 'the other Mary' at the empty tomb where Jesus had been laid after his death. Both characters are scored for soprano. The piece is divided into two halves, each consisting of solos, followed by a 'chorus'. In this piece Legrenzi makes use of a basso ostinato. The fourth piece by Legrenzi, Intret in conspectu tuo is only known through a copy that Handel made. He reworked the opening theme in a chorus in the oratorio Samson. It is the only known six-part motet by Legrenzi. It was written for the 1687 celebrations marking the victories of Venice over the Ottomans. The piece depicts the various stages of the events that resulted in those victories, such as the laments of the people about the invasions of the enemies. Elements in the text are singled out, such as "Surge, eripe nos" (Arise, rescue us) and "Apprehende arma et scutum" (Take up your weapons and shield). It does not surprise that "lacrimantes" (crying) is set to dissonances.

Three pieces have been preserved in a manuscript in the hand of Edmund Thomas Warren (d. 1796), who was a member of the Academy. They are from the pen of Agostino Steffani, Giovanni Paolo Colonna and Ercole Bernabei respectively. With Steffani the Academy had a special connection: on 1 June 1727 he had been elected its first President, although he was not in England (and never has been there). However, in 1709 he was appointed Apostolic Vicar in northern Germany, with the duty of bringing the protestant parts of Germany back to the Church of Rome. He chose Hanover as his seat where he remained until his death, and given the ties between Hanover and England he became involved in music life there, for instance by paving the way for some singers to perform in London. For several decades he had virtually given up composing any music, but in the 1720s his interest in music revived, and he started to compose again. Qui diligit Mariam was first performed in London in 1727; it was well received, witness the large number of copies that have survived. It opens with a motive that is repeated several times in the course of the piece. It is an alternation of solo and tutti passages. In the penultime section, Steffani makes use of the stile concitato: "She [Mary] can stop the scourges, put an end to wars, make vengeance vanish, break arrows, shatter a spear."

Tribulationes cordis mei is one of two motets by Ercole Bernabei that are part of the collection of Johann Christoph (John Christopher) Pepusch, who was also at some time President of the Academy and bequeathed his collection to the Academy. Bernabei was a pupil of Orazio Benevoli in Rome, and was Kapellmeister at the Bavarian court in Munich from 1674 until his death. His music found a wide dissemination in England. The motet performed here, whose text is taken from various psalms, is divided into sections for solo voice(s) and tutti. Bernabei also uses harmony for expressive reasons, such as in the second section: "Look upon my humility and my labour, and wipe away all my sins."

Lastly, Giovanni Paolo Colonna, who was born and died in Bologna. The son of an organ builder, he was educated as such. He developed into an expert in organ construction. After initial studies in Bologna he went to Rome, where he became a pupil of Orazio Benevoli and Giacomo Carissimi. After his return to Bologna he was active as a composer and became second organist of the basilica of San Petronio. From 1662 until his death he was maestro di cappella there. Victimae paschali laudes is a sequence for Easter, and is set for two choirs, which are used to create a kind of dialogue; the voices join in the concluding 'Amen'.

It is often thought that the interest in 'early music' started in the 19th century. It is certainly true that scholars and composers of the romantic era had a strong interest in the past, resulting, for instance, in editions of the oeuvre of Bach and the keyboard works of François Couperin. But the origin of the historical interest is in the 18th century, witness the activities of the Academy of Ancient Music. That was known, of course, but probably not musically explored. I can't remember having heard recordings of the repertoire performed by the Academy, except the Bononcini disc I mentioned before. It is well worth the effort, as this disc demonstrates. Several pieces included in the programme are first recordings, and each piece is of excellent quality. The performance of pieces by lesser-known composers is one of this disc's assets. It also contributes to our knowledge of the musical landscape in 18th-century England.

With the ensemble Contrapunctus Owen Rees mostly focuses on music of the Renaissance. The repertoire performed here requires a different approach: the texts are treated in a much more declamatory manner rather than in a legato style, and there is a much closer connection between text and music. Dynamically these pieces are more differentiated than renaissance repertoire. I am happy to say that Rees and the singers of Contrapunctus are well aware of this and perform accordingly. This is a highly satisfying and convincing account of the motets selected for this recording. The ensemble is immaculate and the individual singers are excellent in the solo episodes.

I hope that more of the repertoire performed at the gatherings of the Academy of Ancient Music is going to be performed and recorded.

Johan van Veen (© 2025)

Relevant links:

Contrapunctus


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