Sacred Garland – Devotional Chamber Music from the Age of Monteverdi
Frescobaldi: Canzona ‘La Bernardinia’
Kapsperger: Toccata No 1
Monteverdi: Venite sitientes ad quas
Palestrina: Pulchra es amica mea, Grandi Jesu mi dulcissime, Merula Nigra sum, Gaudeamus omnes
Piccinini: Toccata No 12
Corradini: Spargite flores
For this collection The Gonzaga Band (which takes its name from the Gonzaga Dukes of Mantua, powerful and influential patrons of the arts in the late Renaissance) has chosen some of the most beautiful music from the dawn of the Italian Baroque. Some of the composers, such as Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Merula and Grandi, are well known today. Others, such as Nicolò Corradini, Benedetto Re and Archangelo Crotti, are minor masters whose music has been unjustly forgotten. All share a gift for writing accessible, tuneful music for solo voice with obbligato instruments. Catherine Bott has praised The Gonzaga Band’s blend of cornett and voice as that of ‘two soprano instruments’ matched ‘in dazzling duet’.
