From the Hymn to St Magnus in 12th century Orkney to the 17th century
canzonas and motets of Viadana and Banchieri by way of many of the major musical centres of Europe, this is a fascinating and hugely enjoyable show for the whole family.
The keyboard pieces range from toccatas, those in contrapuntal genres such as
canzonas and ricercares, to dances, some with divisions.
Unlike Frescobaldi, whose toccatas,
canzonas, and other compositions appeared in sumptuous engraved editions, Ercole published none of his keyboard music, which remains obscure even though nearly the complete corpus has already appeared in two previous editions.
In his works, he also deepened the difference between the vocal and instrumental styles, as is evident in his organ ricercars,
canzonas, toccatas and dance compositions.
Think brass ensemble, though, and Gabrieli
canzonas or similar works written for similar groups spring to mind.
Bach, works by Michael Praetorius and William Brade, and early
canzonas and sonatas for violin and sackbut by Dario Castello and Giulio Belli.
Fifty works have been chosen, representing such forms as chant, organum, masses, motets, chanson,
canzonas, lute pieces, ricercari and keyboard works from an anonymous early-seventeenth-century
canzona to a fugue from Bach's Die Kunst der Fuge.
Interplay between strings and wind in magnificent
canzonas by composers such as the Gabrielis was rendered with delicacy and rhythmic poise.
In the second volume of his Il transilvano (Venice, 1609), Girolamo Diruta directs his organ students towards the sedulous study of ricercares,
canzonas, Masses, motets and madrigals with the hope that they might thereby attain the highest level of expertise in playing the organ.(6) Diruta recommends that organists copy polyphonic compositions into score and play as many of the vocal parts as possible.
The first is HYPERION'S exciting new release, the
Canzonas and Sonatas from Sacrae Symphonioe 1597 by Giovanni Gabrieli (CDA 66908).
Since Books 4 and 7 (and also Book 5) contain sonatas, sinfonias and a variety of dances, whereas Book 6 contains only sonatas and
canzonas, it seems reasonable to regard the binary and variation sonatas as intended primarily for performance in a secular context appropriate for dances.
From the Hymn to St Magnus in twelfth century Orkney to the seventeenth century
canzonas and motets of Viadana and Banchieri - the show is designed to be enjoyable for all the family.