Giuseppe Giordani: Lamentazioni & Miserere

Giuseppe Giordani (1751-1798) received his musical training at the prestigious conservatory of S. Maria di Loreto in his native city Naples, alongside Domenico Cimarosa and Niccolò Zingarelli. In 1774 he obtained the post of supernumerary maestro di cappella of the Tesoro di S. Gennaro. His feverish activity as an opera composer, carried out primarily in central and northern Italy, is reflected in nearly 40 works composed in less than 15 years beginning in 1779. In 1789 he was called to direct the musical chapel of the Chiesa Metropolitana in Fermo, a position he held until his death.

In the capitulary archives of the Duomo in Fermo are preserved the 27 responsories for the Holy Triduum and two autograph scores by Giordani pertaining to the liturgy of the Tenebrae, one ordinary and another more elaborate. This latter version is presented here in its first modern performance. The title page of the manuscript reads: “Lamentazioni e Miserere …” This collection is articulated in a complex formal structure with frequent recitatives and a rich and varied harmonic texture, complete with numerous stylistic ideas reminiscent of Mozart.