Savadi - Fabellae Sacrae

Carissimi, Giacomo, Merula, Tarquinio, Rossi, Michelangelo, Rovetta, Giovanni, Sances, Giovanni Felice, Strozzi, Barbara

Bournisien, Marie, Ensemble Savadi

PC 10208

During the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church by no means relied solely on the word or the sword, but also used the arts as an effective means of bringing lost souls back into the bosom of (Catholic) Mother Church or keeping them there from the outset. The power of music was of course also a tried and tested means of doing this, and so a wealth of edifying music has survived, particularly from the first half of the 17th century, which was also or especially intended for domestic music-making and private devotions. The Savadi ensemble proves that this deliberately emotional music can still be moving today. With works by Merula, Carissimi and Strozzi, just two sopranos and a harp conjure up a varied program of the most diverse emotions, which indeed represents a seductive antithesis to the sometimes somewhat overly sober Protestant music of the time.

Works:

• Ghizzolo: Benedicite Deum caeli; Jubilemus et laetemur omnes
• Marotta: Fecit Deus; Quis mihi det
• Carissimi: Laudemus virum gloriosum; Vanitas vanitatum
• Lambardi: Toccata
• Strozzi: In medio maris
• Treviso: Gaudete omnes
• Capuana: Parce mihi, Domine
• M. Rossi: Toccata Seconda
• D'India: Osculare, o beata peccatrix; Dilectus meus
• Sances: Ardet cor meum
• Rovetta: In caelis hodie iubilant sancti
• Merula: Hor ch'e tempo di dormiere
• De Macque: Stravaganze Nr. 2; Galiarda Nr. 1

CD x 1

Pan Classics

9/18/09

7619990102088