AA.VV.
The feast of the Nativity held a special place in the hearts and lives of Italian nuns.
In a letter to archbishop Federigo Borromeo, a Milanesenun thanked him for his gift of a lute which “has cheered all of the nuns with me, […] and thus on the night of Holy Christmaswe went to play Matins to all the nuns, singing Gloria in excelsis […]”.
This recording presents works composed by and for these women that might have been heard or performed at Christmastime, andthey call for a great variety of forces ranging from solo voices to double choirs of both singers and instruments.
The nun composers represented include the Ursulines Maria Xaveria Perucona and Isabella Leonarda, author of 20 collectionsof vocal and instrumental music; Chiara Margarita Cozzolani and her conventual sister Rosa Giacinta Badalla from the renownedMilanese convent of Santa Radegonda; and Caterina Assandra, composer and dedicatee of various collections.
The CD also featuresworks by eminent male composers (Massenzio, Rota, Reina, Speer et al.) and dedicated to these remarkable cloistered musicians.
Tracklist
Rognoni Taeggio, Francesco
Messa, salmi intieri e spezzati, Op. 2
1 - Messa, salmi intieri e spezzati, Op. 2: Puer natus (3:07)
Soderini, Agostino
Sacrarum cantionum, Book 1
2 - Sacrarum cantionum, Book 1: O Maria, "In Nativitate Iesu Christi Dialogismus" (3:50)
Badalla, Rosa Giacinta
Motetti a voce sola
3 - Motetti a voce sola: Scintillate amicae stellae (7:22)
Massenzio, Domenico
Sacri motetti … con la sequenza di Pentecoste et letanie, Op. 10
4 - Noe noe (3:41)
5 - Magi videntes stellam (2:26)
Cozzolani, Chiara Margarita
Concerti sacri, Op. 2
6 - Concerti sacri, Op. 2: Ecce annuntio vobis (7:47)
Assandra, Caterina
Motetti, Op. 2
7 - Motetti, Op. 2: Hodie Christus (4:08)
Anonymous
Hodie nobis caelorum rex [Nativitas Domini, da Antiphonarium Romanum, Venezia 1606]
8 - Hodie nobis caelorum rex [Nativitas Domini, da Antiphonarium Romanum, Venezia 1606] (1:46)
Rota, Andrea
Motectorum, Book 1
9 - Motectorum, Book 1: Hodie Christus natus est (3:39)
Massaino, Tiburzio
Sacri cantus, Book 2
10 - Sacri cantus, Book 2: Quem vidistis pastores? (2:24)
Reina, Sisto
Fiorita corona di melodia celeste, Op. 7
11 - Fiorita corona di melodia celeste, Op. 7: Silentium (5:50)
Speer, Daniel
Philomela angelica cantionum sacrarum, "Res Plena De"
12 - Philomela angelica cantionum sacrarum, "Res Plena De": O praeclara dies (8:27)
Strata, Giovanni Battista
Arie di musica
13 - Arie di musica: O Maria che giubilante partoristi (3:53)
Casati, Gasparo
Il terzo libro de sacri concenti
14 - Il terzo libro de sacri concenti: Natus est Iesus (3:57)
Perucona, Maria Xaveria
Sacri concerti de motetti a 1,2,3 e 4 voci
15 - Sacri concerti de motetti a 1,2,3 e 4 voci: Ad gaudia, ad iubila (6:08)
Leonarda, Isabella
Motetti con le litanie della Beata Vergine, Op. 10
16 - Motetti con le litanie della Beata Vergine, Op. 10: Gloria in excelsis Deo (9:41)
- Composer: AA.VV.
- Performers: Cappella Artemisia: Elena Biscuola, Pamela Lucciarini, Anna Simboli, Candace Smith, Patrizia Vaccari, Silvia Vajente, Barbara Zanichelli, Francesca Bagli, Federica Di Leonardo: voices – Davide Monti, Elisa Bestetti: violins – Sofia Ruffino, Bettina Hoffmann, Sofia Gonzato: viola da gamba – Silvia Moroni: flute – Maria Christina Cleary: baroque harp – Stefano Rocco: theorbo, baroque guitar – Miranda Aureli: organ, harpsichord – Candace Smith, conductor
- Historical Period: Various Ages
- Code: TC 280003
- Edition: December 2011
- Barcode: 8007194105100
- Set: 1
- Total tracks: 16
- Total duration: 01:19:12
- Texts: Scintillate amicæ stellæ – Christmas in the Convents of 16th- and 17th-Century Italy
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