VECCHI ORAZIO

It is likely that Orazio Vecchi suffered from the fact that his fame in Europe was tied above all to the canzonetta, a basically “minor” genre to which other great masters periodically dedicated themselves, though it also inspired a host of less distinguished composers.
In his preface to the Motecta of 1590, Vecchi confessed his burning desire to become known to European musicians, and to this end he chose to dedicate his first series of motets to Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Baveria, in the hopes that these compositions might reach the musicians of the Bavarian court.
This collection, which includes a total of thirty-three compositions, makes no attempt to be homogeneous in its forces: seven pieces are for four voices, six for five, six others for six, thirteen for eight, and one for ten voices.
The compositional styles are the result of a duplicitous approach, which on the one hand attempts to preserve the ties to the great masters of the past (in particular Palestrina and De Victoria) while, on the other, adopting more modern elements with which Vecchi had in part successfully experimented in his secular music.