Marini: Per le musiche di camera concerti, Op. 7

Featuring

Antonio Greco
Coro Costanzo Porta
Cremona Antiqua
Biagio Marini

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Composer Biography

Marini's artistic career began in the choir of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice between 1615 and 1617, when the choir was conducted by the renowned Claudio Monteverdi.

Composer Biography

Biagio Marini, the composer, was not only a famous violin virtuoso and innovator of instrumental music, but also a masterly composer of vocal pieces, and was in demand as a singer.

Album & Artwork

The order of pieces on this album is not the original publication order, but rather an interpretation based on Marini's fascination with Cesare Orsini's metaphor of 'love seasons' corresponding to nature's cycles.

Composition History

Marini's Concerti Op. 7 were dedicated to Duke Wolfgang Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg, who appointed Marini as 'maestro dei concerti' and 'musico riservato', giving him the exclusive right to compose for the Duke's residence.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Marini's Concerti Op. 7, though not staged, are highly theatrical, featuring pastoral characters, dramatic monologues, dialogues, and instrumental refrains that resemble ballet intermezzos.

Compositional Technique

The Concerti Op. 7 transform the traditional madrigal into a concerto, with instruments sometimes doubling voices ('colla parte' practice) and other times having obbligato, independent parts.

Compositional Technique

Marini's vocal music often features the early-Baroque 'stile concertato', which contrasts and connects heterogeneous elements like voices with instruments, dramatic monologues with tutti, and laments with dances.