Puzzi: Messa a quattro voci con Violoncelli, Fagotti, Basso, ed Organo

Featuring

Ana Quintans
Raquel Mendes
Gabriel Díaz
António Lourenço Menezes
Rodrigo Carreto
Fernando Guimarães

Luís Rendas Pereira
Hugo Oliveira
Diana Vinagre
Rebecca Rosen
Tomasz Wesołowski
Kamila Marcinkowska-Prasad
Marta Vicente
Fernando Miguel Jalôto
Ensemble Bonne Corde
António de Pádua Puzzi
Anonymous

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Composer's Artistic Vision

The use of this instrumentation, with its dark tone color, was associated with significant liturgical occasions like Holy Week and funeral ceremonies, reflecting the rhetorical force given to moments of gravity and sadness.

Instruments

Diana Vinagre, the cellist and artistic director of Ensemble Bonne Corde, plays a cello made by Joaquim José Galrão in Lisbon in 1788.

Compositional Technique

The Messa a quattro voci by António de Pádua Puzzi is part of a compositional model where basso continuo instruments imitate a classical orchestra, with soloistic parts for cellos and bassoons.

Historical Context

This specific instrumental ensemble, featuring two cellos and two bassoons with solo parts, became standard in Portuguese court music until the first quarter of the 19th century.

Composer Biography

António de Pádua Puzzi, a Portuguese composer, was baptized in Dresden and began his professional life as a bass singer for the Royal Chapel of Ajuda in 1782.

Historical Context

The practice of using instrumental bass soloists was influenced by Neapolitan music and also stemmed from a Council of Trent directive banning organs during Lent and in the Liturgy of the Dead.

Recording & Production

This album features the first recording of the Portuguese repertoire with obbligato cellos and bassoons, and also the first recording of any work by composer António de Pádua Puzzi.