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CD reviews
Biagio PESCIOLINI (1535 - 1611): Secondo Libro di musica sacra, Venezia 1605
Tuscae Voces; La Pifarescha
Dir: Elia Orlando
rec: Sept 2022, Prato, Chiesa di San Giusto in Piazzanese; March 2023, Prato, Oratorio di San Fabiano
Tactus - TC 531602 (© 2024) (66'46")
Liner-notes: E/IT; lyrics - no translations
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
Spotify
Adoramus te Christe a 8;
Benedicite omnia opera a 10;
Confitemini Domino a 10;
Crucem pro nobis a 5;
Decantabat populus a 10;
Dilectus meus a 10;
Magnificat a 8;
Minuisti eum a 6;
Mirabile mysteriuma 6;
Missa Decantabat a 10;
Missus est Gabriel angelus a 8;
Omnes gentes a 10;
Omnia quae fecisti nobis a 8
[TV] Sara Mazzanti, Elisa Pasquini, soprano;
Annachiara Mugnai, Elisabetta Vuocolo, contralto;
Luca Mantovani, Luigi Rossi, tenor;
Andrea Bochicchio, Neri Landi, Marco Pagani, quintus;
Lorenzo Martinuzzi, sextus;
Tommaso Barni, Augusto Biagini, Lorenzo Martinuzzi, Gabriele Orlando, bass
[LP] Johana Lopez Valencia, recorder, viola da gamba;
Andrea Inghisciano, David Brutti, cornett;
Mauro Morini, Fabio Costa, sackbut;
Giacomo Granchi, Matteo Saccà, Rossella Pugliano, violin;
Manuela Masenello, viola;
Roberta Castelli, Claudia Pozzesi, viola da gamba;
Andrea Benucci, theorbo;
Giovanna Riboli, organ
Biagio Pesciolini is one of those scholars like to call 'minor composers'. Pesciolini is not even a footnote in music history; he has an entry in New Grove, but that takes no more than just three lines. His oeuvre is also small, and only a part of it has been preserved complete. The disc under review is the second devoted to his oeuvre, and the result of research which spans a period of about thirty years. The fact that he worked for most of his life in the town of his birth, Prato, does not help: not many will know it - it is a town northwest of Florence.
The latter fact is significant, because Pesciolini had close contacts to the court in Florence, and these helped him during his career. Pesciolini received his first musical education by the Fellowship of the Archangel at Sant'Agostino church - which he joined at the age of thirteen - and was ordained priest no later than April 1561. In 1550 Pier Francisco Ricci was appointed provost of Santo Stefano - Prato's cathedral - by Cosimo I de' Medici, Duke of Florence from 1537 to 1569. Ricci was going to play a major role in Pesciolini's career: it may be thanks to his influence that Pesciolini became maestro di cappella at the Duomo at Volterra in Tuscany, where he stayed for seven years. He dedicated his first printed collection of music - Il primo libro de madrigali (1563) - to Ricci. In 1568 he was dismissed, following a conflict with the abbot about money.
Pesciolini returned to Prato, where he - thanks to the influence of Cosimo de' Medici - he was appointed maestro di cappella at Santo Stefano. In 1571 he published a second book of madrigals, dedicated this time to the future Grand Duke Ferdinando de' Medici, who in 1574 was appointed provost of Prato. It was thanks to him that in 1576 Pesciolini was appointed canon of Santo Stefano. Ferdinando was also the man who supported Pesciolini in his conflicts with the chapter, which accused him of neglecting his duties. He was dismissed, but restored to his position, again due to Ferdinando's influence. No wonder, then, that Pesciolini dedicated his third book of madrigals (1581) to him. In 1590 Pesciolini was succeeded as maestro di cappella by Antonio Mogliani, but he continued to work as commissioner for the Chapter, substitute commissioner and, in 1608, choir supervisor. In 1599 he published his first collection of sacred music, followed in 1605 by a second. Both include masses and motets for eight to twelve (1599) or five to ten voices (1605). The latter is the subject of the disc under review, which includes the complete works from that edition.
Eight of the eleven motets are for two choirs, either for eight or for ten voices. Two motets are for six voices, and one motet is in five parts. The Magnificat is for eight voices, the mass for ten.
The latter is a parody mass, based on Pesciolini's own motet also included in the collection. In his treatment of the text he shows the influence of contemporary madrigals, but the pieces for double choir don't offer that many opportunities for text expression. The use of the coro spezzati technique can be used for text expression, for instance in that they are joined to emphasize a particularly important passage. In Omnia quae fecisti nobis Pesciolini creates a marked contrast between the text "for we have sinned against you and we have not obeyed your commandments" which shows much restraint, and the ensuing passage "but we give glory to your name and ask that you deal with us according to the abundance of your mercy", which is set in an exuberant manner.
The polychoral pieces are largely homorhythmic, although there are also more contrapuntal episodes. Pesciolini's mastery of counterpoint comes especially to the fore in the five- and six-part motets, which are more in the style of the Franco-Flemish tradition.
The performances are almost in one-voice-per-part manner, although in most pieces one or two parts are sung by two singers. In the polychoral works instruments are used to play colla voce. That certainly was a widespread practice at the time, but how frequently did instruments participate in performances during the liturgy? In this recording the five- and six-part motets are performed a capella (Crucem pro nobis) or with organ, whereas the polychoral works are all performed with instruments. That makes sense: the latter may have been performed at special occasions, such as the main feasts of the ecclesiastical year, whereas the pieces of a more modest scoring may have been intended for 'common use'. What seems questionable is that the various sections of the mass are performed with partly different instruments.
Pesciolini is a composer I had never heard of. There is not that much to discover as far as his extant oeuvre is concerned, as that is rather small. Two of the three madrigal books have come down to us incomplete; the third has been recorded a few years ago and also released by Tactus. Unfortunately that has never reached me; the recording of the 1605 collection has made me curious. This recording is the result of research which was well worth the effort. This collection is a valuable addition to the Italian sacred repertoire from around 1600. These pieces represent the last stage of classical polyphony, as it was written in the last decades of the 16th century. Stylistically one may compare Pesciolini with Giovanni Gabrieli.
The performances are very good. I knew La Pifarescha, but the vocal ensemble Tuscae Voces is new to me, and it is a very pleasant acquaintance. An unknown master like Pesciolini needs really good performances like we get here in order to convince listeners that his music deserves to be performed and recorded. I don't know whether any of his works is available in a modern edition. It should be; ensembles may well add some of his output to their repertoire and include some of his works into their programmes.
Johan van Veen (© 2025)
Relevant links:
La Pifarescha