The recording features three different organs: a 5½-stop Italian chamber organ by Goetze & Gwynn, a 4-stop continuo organ by Robin Jennings, and a 4-stop 2-manual chest organ with regal by N.P. Mander.
Compositional Technique
Viadana's 1612 Vespers settings, which receive their first recording here, were revolutionary in allowing performers to augment the core two choirs with two additional choirs.
Performer Biography
I Fagiolini, founded by Robert Hollingworth in 1986, is an Associate Ensemble at the University of York and will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2026.
Recording & Production
This recording marks two 400th anniversaries: the death of Giovanni Gabrieli, a Venetian-born composer, and the publication of a Vespers collection by Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, a Parmesan composer.
Compositional Technique
Viadana's 1612 Vespers collection is considered more progressive than Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers due to its clear division into solo and accompanying groups.
Interpretation
The album takes the form of a liturgical re-creation of Second Vespers for the feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, set in an early 17th-century North-Italian venue.
Historical Context
The feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary commemorates the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, a naval victory of the Holy League over the Ottoman navy.
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