Ghezzi showed a gift for music from a very early age and received training in both traditional counterpoint and the 'modern style' of monody with basso continuo.
Compositional Technique
The Lamentations for Holy Week, Opus IV, are based on an Old Testament text that uses an acrostic device, where each stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Composer Biography
Ippolito Ghezzi, an Augustinian friar and the composer featured on this album, was born in Sinalunga, an ancient castle in Valdichiana, Italy.
Interpretation
Modern historically informed performers can differentiate the accompaniment's depth and instrumentation, highlighting thematic beginnings and adding improvisation to cadences and repetitions.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Ghezzi's oratorios freely adapt biblical stories, condensing narratives and adding poetic elements to focus on human emotions, similar to Venetian opera of the time.
Composition History
Ghezzi's four short Biblical oratorios, Opus III, were printed in Bologna in 1700 and sold for 6 paoli per copy, though seven copies remained unsold by 1734.
Recording & Production
This album features the first modern-era recording of these works, with transcriptions and revisions of the scores by Roberto Cascio, Barbara Vignudelli, Carlo Vistoli, and Andrea Fusari.
