O CRUX BENEDICTA VLHD High Quality Edition - DE LABYRINTHO

O CRUX BENEDICTA VLHD High Quality Edition ( CVLD168 )

Author : CLUDIO MERULO
Performer : QUONIAM DE LABYRINTHO

Available in: CD

Notes

CLASSICAL: motets and ricercars by Claudio Merulo. Qoniam: ensemble of dulcians (P. Tognon); De Labiryntho: vocal ensemble of the Renaissance (Walter Testolin).
24/96 kHz digital recording made at Auditorium Comunale Chiuppano, Vicenza on December 2000.

“You should know that all instruments are less worthy than the human voice in comparison, so we will strengthen ourselves by learning and imitating it.”
This is what Silvestro Ganassi said in 1538 on the frontispiece of his treatise: “La Fontegara”, which instructed wind musicians in the refined and complex art of their learning.
We can rightly take this exhortation as an example, as a model of ideal expression to aim for in the performance of the music itself.
The pieces performed are part of the collection: “Liber Primis Sacrarum Cantinum Quinque Vocum” published in 1578 by Claudio Merulo. It is a collection of motets, that is, polyphonic vocal compositions in Latin, intended to be performed during mass or other liturgical functions.
The organ and the voices were the privileged means of communication and were always supported by a varied series of instruments. The most archaic bassoon model, called bassoon-chorista (or dulciana) was one of the most effective instruments for relating to the voices.