Trabaci: Il secondo libro de ricercate and altri varij capricci

The works which are certainly best known and most responsible for Trabaci’s success in modern times are his two collections of instrumental pieces. The title page of the first, published in Naples by Costantino Vitale in 1603, bears the heading Ricercate, Canzone franzese, Capricci, Canti fermi, Gagliarde, Partite diverse, Toccate, Durezze, Ligature, Consonanze Stravaganti, et un Madrigale Passeggiato nel fine. Opere tutte da sonare, a quattro voci. Di Gio. Maria Trabaci, Organista nella Regia Cappella di Palazzo in Napoli. Novamente da lui composto, & dato In luce. Libro Primo. The dedication draws us away from the austere position of the liturgical organist in order to shed light on the unquestionably important role played by the composer and his vocal works in the musical culture of the Neapolitan aristocracy. This second CD focuses essentially on the works contained in the Secondo Libro of 1615, “secondo parto di varij Capricci intorno al sonar dell’Organo, & altri varij instromenti” by Giovanni Maria Trabaci. The collection includes the Cento Versi sopra li otto Finali Ecclesiastici, a weighty volume of organ versicles on tones of Gregorian chants to be used as part of the organ liturgy, and its publication was in homage to the composer’s new post as maestro di cappella. Nonetheless, the variety of forms present is far more ample, the fruits of “the efforts of many years”. Sophisticated contrapuntal realizations in the genre of the Ricercare, which elaborate up to three subjects (“fughe”) contemporaneously, occasionally treated in its inversion (“riversi”) or chromatically, are found alongside the fantasy and free invention of the Toccate, also intended for “secular” instruments such as the harp, which feature the harmonic artifice of the Ligature.