URIO: VESPERS FOR THE BLESSED VIRGIN

FRANCESCO ANTONIO URIO (1650 – after 1719)

VESPERS FOR THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Symphony in D Major (FA Arconati)

Domine ad adiuvandum & Dixit Dominus

Alma redemptoris Mater (FM Zuccari)

Praise the Children

Very prudent Virgo

Laetatus sum

Haec Virgo (FM Ferril)

In odorem unguentorum

Nisi Dominus

Symphony in A Major (FA Calegari)

I flos campi

Lauda Jerusalem

Hodie Maria Virgo

Magnificat

Hail Holy Queen (G. Ferrari)

TEXT https://uraniarecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Text.indd_-1.pdf

2 CD

CREMONA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA on original instruments

Soloists
Sofia Pezzi, soprano*
Marcella di Garbo, soprano**
Camilla Biraga, tall
Davide Rocca, bass

Stuffing Choir***
Giovanna Aita, Daniela Aita, Alexandra Borisova
Paola Silva, Stefano Passalacqua, and Sandro Gattorno

Male Voices of Cremona (Gregorian Chant)
Father Graziano Ghisolfi, Michele Bolzoni
Alessandro Ciapessoni, Federico Bergamaschi

Continuous
Lorenzo Fantinuoli, cello
Sofia Ferri, theorbo
Valentino Ermacora, organ

Violins
Lorenza Vaccaro, Fabio Francia, Federica Calcagno, Francesca Del Grosso, Annalisa Del Grosso
Daria Anufrieva

Fabio Francia, viola – Fabio Longo, violone

In 17th-century church music, aspects of Renaissance tradition and Baroque innovation merged in the concertato style. Father Francesco Antonio Urio's Concertati Psalms, Op. II, included in this Vespers dedicated to the Virgin, fit squarely into this tradition. This Vespers, which we present here in its first modern performance, features three-part vocal pieces of uncommon melodic quality, where the imitative style, counterpoint, modal harmony, numerous tempo changes, various melismas, and a wealth of diminutions demonstrate remarkable compositional skill.