Sacred Music and Operatic style

The pieces chosen for this anthology are intended to delineate, in general terms, the “sacred” part of Mercadante’s compositions by observing certain performance modes of the 19th century in use not only by him, but also by composers throughout Italy.In particular, transcription practices were an indispensable procedure that permitted the introduction of specific musical styles into the church. Compositions that were originally written for large ensembles such as orchestras and symphonic bands often needed to be “reduced for organ” when performed at church because it was not easy to recruit and to pay for large groups of instrumentalists.