Monteverdi: Beatus vir (from Selva Morale e Spirituali) (Psalm 112)

The last of three volumes of The Sixteen’s series devoted to Monteverdi’s Selva morale e spirituale.

Without doubt, Monteverdi was the greatest of the early baroque European composers. He revolutionised the music of the theatre and the church by his dramatic and imaginative use of voices and instruments and by his daring harmonies and rhythms. Next to his Vespers of 1610, the Selva morale e spirituale of 1641 is his most significant and virtuosic collection of sacred music. Monteverdi stretches every singer’s versatility to the limit in this demanding but exhilarating music. Included on this final volume are the eight part Magnificat (Primo) - one of the most impressive of all Monteverdi’s settings with the added richness of doubling strings; the old style Credidi and Memento featuring the full choir; and the exquisitely beautiful soprano solo, Pianto della Madonna ‘Iam moriar, mi fili’, performed here by Grace Davidson.

Without doubt, Monteverdi was the greatest of the early baroque European composers. He revolutionised the music of the theatre and the church by his dramatic and imaginative use of voices and instruments and by his daring harmonies and rhythms. Next to his Vespers of 1610, the Selva morale e spirituale of 1641 is his most significant and virtuosic collection of sacred music. Over the next few years we intend to record the complete publication with a variety of forces. His much performed Beatus vir is a mere appetiser for this delightful yet thrilling music.

Since they were founded in 1979 Harry Christophers and The Sixteen have recorded over 100 discs of choral music spanning 600 years. On this new collection, CORO presents a selection of their most celebrated recordings of music by composers from across Europe.

This disc features music from over a dozen composers representing ten countries from Palestrina’s Assumpta Est Maria and Monteverdi’s Beatus Vir to excerpts from Poulenc’s Sept Répons des Ténèbrae and Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir. This disc provides a superb collection of works from some of Europe’s most celebrated composers and, alongside the first disc in this set, Great British Choral Works, is the perfect introduction to The Sixteen’s wonderful music.

A fantastic compilation celebrating the rich musical heritage of one of Venice’s most iconic landmarks – St Mark’s Basilica.

The release details a selection of music written by composers who all held important positions at the church – including the role of maestro di cappella. From Antonio Lotti’s affective setting of the Credo, a central part of the Mass, to Monteverdi’s absorbing ‘Beatus Vir I’ – a Vesper psalm taken from his Selva Morale e Spirituale and which formed part of the smaller observances known as the Office Hours – these compositions range from the late 16th century through to the second half of the 18th century and reveal a wealth of elaborate textures. Also featured is Lotti’s non-liturgical ‘Spirto di Dio’, a ceremonial motet celebrating the Doge’s dominion over the waters and describing the lavish secular rituals that the church was also involved in.

Full of inspiring performances that include split choirs and an extensive body of instrumentalists, this release documents the development of St Mark’s unique musical style – first cultivated during the Renaissance and then heightened after the city’s excommunication in 1607. Featuring a veritable who’s who of Italian composers, it’s the perfect starting-point for exploring Venice’s cultural legacy.

Repertoire otherwise currently unavailable on record.

New booklet notes by the Italian-Baroque scholar Naomi Matsumoto.

Period-instrument recordings, made in Venetian churches between 1989 and 1995.

Coro is an award winning choir which won the Tallinn International Choir Festival in 2003, the first western choir to do so. 'O Jesu Mi Dulcissime' is Coro's third album and features a wonderful programme of works by the sixteenth century composers Schütz, Gabrieli, Monteverdi and Corradini. Coro is accompanied by Camerata Antica playing on original instruments.

Easter 2009 sees the release of a major new disc on Collegium from John Rutter, the Cambridge Singers and La Nuova Musica, featuring a collection of outstanding motets from the canon of European sacred choral repertoire.

Focusing on the extraordinary body of choral music produced for liturgical use during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, The Sacred Flame explores the rich and varied ways in which European composers responded to sacred texts. Delving into a treasure-trove of music from cultural centres as diverse as Amsterdam, Antwerp, Leipzig, Milan, Rome, and Venice, this collection features familiar classics by Gabrieli,Monteverdi, Palestrina and Schütz, as well as less widely-known masterpieces by Bach, Buxtehude, Hassler and Sweelinck. All are performed in stunning new recordings by the Cambridge Singers at their sensuous and virtuosic best, joined here for the first time on disc by the instrumentalists of La Nuova Musica, rapidly establishing areputation as one of the UK’s most exciting early music ensembles.

All repertoire featured on The Sacred Flame is drawn from the enormously popular European Sacred Music collection edited by John Rutter for the Oxford University Press Oxford Choral Classics series. Recorded in the unparalleled acoustic of the Great Hall at University College School in London, and produced and engineered by award winning producer Simon Eadon, the performances of these much loved works heard on this disc are set to become definitive.

“These singers of John Rutter's choir are so expert, so very good at everything they do… They shade and shape the phrases beautifully” Gramophone

A survey of 1000 years of sacred music from the earliest Christian chant, through the richest polyphony of the renaissance, the classical age, to our own time. It begins with the chant of St Dunstan (c.909-988) Archbishop of Canterbury, and ends with the music commissioned from John Tavener for the BBC TV series “Seeing Salvation” the world premiere recording of this 21st century work.