Splendours of the Gonzaga. Sacred Music from Wert to Monteverdi

Featuring

Luca Colombo
Ensemble Biscantores
Claudio Monteverdi
Benedetto Pallavicino
Salomone Rossi
Giaches de Wert

Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi
Amante Franzoni

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Performer Biography

Biscantores, founded in 2014 by conductor Luca Colombo, specializes in Italian late Renaissance and Baroque repertoire and has presented a project on the Mantuan court of the Gonzagas at Harvard University's Villa I Tatti.

Composition History

Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga's religious sensibility led to the construction of the Palatine basilica of Santa Barbara, designed by Giovan Battista Bertani, where architecture, painting, music, liturgy, and sacred furnishings were part of a unified vision.

Composer Biography

Benedetto Pallavicino was appointed maestro di cappella after Giaches de Wert's death, a role also coveted by Claudio Monteverdi, who only achieved the position after Pallavicino's premature death.

Compositional Technique

Salamone Rossi, a Jewish composer from Mantua, created a unique collection of 33 sacred Hebrew chants, the Cantici di Salamone, which attempted to introduce Christian musical style into the synagogue while maintaining tradition.

Compositional Technique

Giaches de Wert, the first maestro di cappella for Duke Guglielmo, combined solid Northern counterpoint with Italian influences, paying close attention to 'musically depicting' the meaning of texts.

Historical Context

The Gonzaga family's prosperity in 16th-century Mantua fostered a splendid development of the arts, with music becoming a sign of culture and power.

Composer Biography

Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga, the Duke of Mantua, was particularly fond of music, studying and composing it, and corresponded with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.