Missa in Assumptione Beatæ Mariæ Virginis

This work is Gagliano’s most interesting large-scale sacred composition. Though still under the influence of Palestrina’s immortal lessons, this mass is characterised by a succinct and masterful interweaving of the counterpoint which, rather than muddying the texture with intricate solutions so dear to the hearts of certain northern composers, instead ennobles the soft cantabile character of the single voices.
Any contribution on the part of instruments is lacking, although a performance with an organ playing a basso seguente part would be completely legitimate and in keeping with the widely documented performance practice of the seventeenth century.
The resemblance of the initial theme with the Gregorian antiphon Virgo prudentissima (or indeed others, above all Pueri hebraeorum), sung for the Feast of the Ascension, an occasion of particular importance to a church dedicated to the Madonna, makes it suitable to a hypothetical liturgical reconstruction for a Marian feast.
This work is Gagliano’s most interesting large-scale sacred composition. Though still under the influence of Palestrina’s immortal lessons, this mass is characterised by a succinct and masterful interweaving of the counterpoint which, rather than muddying the texture with intricate solutions so dear to the hearts of certain northern composers, instead ennobles the soft cantabile character of the single voices.
Any contribution on the part of instruments is lacking, although a performance with an organ playing a basso seguente part would be completely legitimate and in keeping with the widely documented performance practice of the seventeenth century.
The resemblance of the initial theme with the Gregorian antiphon Virgo prudentissima (or indeed others, above all Pueri hebraeorum), sung for the Feast of the Ascension, an occasion of particular importance to a church dedicated to the Madonna, makes it suitable to a hypothetical liturgical reconstruction for a Marian feast..