[1] RISM (Répertoire International des Sources Musicales) database <https://opac.rism.info/>, accessed 1 November 2017, supplemented by Recueils Imprimés XVIe-XVIIe Siècles, RISM B/i (Munich: Henle Verlag, 1960). As of 2020, B/i records for printed anthologies and multi-author works published before 1650 are now incorporated in the full online database.
Selection of Repertoire
The starting point for building the programme for Venice 1629 was the simple realisation that Schütz’s second Venetian visit coincided with the publication of Castello’s Sonate concertate book 2, and Marini’s Op.8, two of the most important collections in the development of small-scale virtuosic instrumental music in the early seventeenth century. Since the Gonzaga Band is a flexibly constituted ensemble with core of soprano voice, cornett and organ/harpsichord, the addition of one cornett and two violins would make it possible to perform two of the most interesting and innovative pieces in these collections: Castello’s Sonata decima settima (in echo), and Marini’s Canzon prima for four violins or cornetts. Together with Schütz’s Paratum cor meum and Exultavit cor meum for solo soprano and two violins from his Symphoniae sacrae, these pieces provided the core repertoire for the project and determined the performing forces for the remaining pieces to be chosen.
The next stage of investigation involved a search for other music printed in Venice in 1629, using the RISM catalogue.[1] This revealed 41 individual titles printed in Venice during that year, as summarised in the annotated table, available as PDF, below.
After discounting collections with significant missing partbooks, and those for multiple voices (beyond the scope of the available resources of the Gonzaga Band), 16 publications remained for further examination. These were consulted via microfilm (GB-Och) or digital scans (D-F, GB-Lbl, I-Bc, PL-Wru). Items consulted are highlighted in the table.
It was clear at this stage that a decision had to be made between sacred, or mixed sacred and secular repertoire. I decided on the former, leaving open the possibility of a Volume 2 with secular focus in the future.
Further selection criteria focused on issues of balance in the final programme between solo vocal items, those with instrumental obbligati/ritornelli, and purely instrumental items – in order to provide a representative cross-section of ‘eligible’ material.
The final selection for Venice 1629 was made from the following sources:
a. Lorenzo Calvi: Quarta raccolta de sacri canti … de diversi eccellentissimi autori
(Venice: Vincenti, 1629).
Claudio Monteverdi: Exulta, filia Sion
Ignazio Donati: Maria Virgo
Alessandro Grandi: Salva me, salutaris Hostia
Benedetto Rè: Lilia convallium
b. Dario Castello: Sonate concertate in stil moderno … libro secondo
(Venice: Gardano/Magni, 1629). [Title page dedication 15 September 1627.]
Sonata terza
Sonata decima settima, in ecco
c. Giovanni Carrone: Il primo libro delli motetti a una, due, tre, et quattro voci
(Venice: Vincenti, 1629).
Congratulamini mihi
d. Alessandro Grandi: Motetti a una, et due voci con sinfonie di due violini … libro terzo
(Venice: Vincenti, 1629).
Regina caeli
e. Biagio Marini: Sonate, symphonie, canzoni … con altre curiose & moderne inventioni.
Opera Ottava (Venice: Gardano/Magni, 1629). [Title page dedication July 1626.]
Canzon prima, per quattro violini, ò cornetti
Sonata per l’organo, violino, ò cornetto
Capriccio, che due violini, sonano quattro parti
Sonata senza cadenza
f. Martino Pesenti: Il secondo libro delle correnti alla francese (Venice: Vincenti, 1630).
[Title page dedication 1 December 1629.]
Corrente detta La Granda
Corrente detta La Priula
NB this source was added in order that we might include some short pieces for solo harpsichord, required to add variety, and to help structure the programme around blocks of similar instrumentation (organ / harpsichord).
g. Henrici Sagittarii [Heinrich Schütz]: Symphoniae sacrae (Venice: Gardano/Magni, 1629).
Paratum cor meum
Exultavit cor meum
h. Horatio [Orazio] Tarditi: Celesti fiori musicali … a voce sola (Venice: Vincenti, 1629).
Plaudite, cantate
