Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (c1560-1627)
Sacri Concentus
Contents listed after review
The Viadana Collective/Maximilien Brisson
rec. 2023, Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara, Mantua, Italy
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as a 16-bit/44.1kHz download with PDF booklet from The Viadana Collective
Passacaille PAS 1142 [79]

Lodovico Grossi da Viadana is one of those composers whose place in history is much more important than the number of recordings of their works would suggest. He is generally considered the first to publish sacred music with a part for basso continuo, the Concerti ecclesiastici Op 12 of 1602. This collection has brought him fame, but there are other opuses which also deserve attention. The coexistence of various styles which is a feature of the time around 1600, is reflected in his oeuvre.

Viadana was born as Lodovico Grossi in Viadana, and only added ‘da Viadana’ to his name when he entered the order of the (Franciscan) Minor Observants. Between 1594 and 1623 he had the position of maestro di cappella at several cathedrals and convents. Some of his music found wide dissemination, and he also attracted a large number of pupils. He published more than thirty collections of music, mostly with an opus number. The largest part of his oeuvre comprises sacred music, but he also wrote madrigals and instrumental pieces.

In his oeuvre Viadana makes use of almost all techniques of his time. Some pieces are polyphonic, other homophonic, some without instruments, others with a basso seguente and later with a basso continuo. Both prima pratica and seconda pratica are represented in his output, and in addition he sometimes makes use of the technique of cori spezzati. As a result his oeuvre is various and colourful and in many ways he is a key figure in the development of Italian music at the turn of the century.

The present disc ignores the 1602 collection, and rather turns to another one with pieces for solo voices and basso continuo. Maximilien Brisson, in his liner-notes, states: “His seminal Cento concerti ecclesiastici of 1602 have received considerable attention, but Viadana’s contribution to monody has been largely seen in modern days as timid and of limited musical value beyond the innovative features of that collection. We propose, however, that his true contribution to the monodic genre resides in his later opus, the long-overlooked Cento concerti a una voce sola of 1614 (republished as Centum sacri concentus ab una voce sola in Frankfurt in 1615), which constitutes a monumental addition to the solo repertoire of the early Baroque.” In these motets he is more adventurous, with regard to the connection between text and music, the use of harmony for expressive purposes and the declamatory treatment of the text. Again, this collection includes 100 pieces, equally divided between the four voice types. Brisson selected eleven pieces: each of the four singers has two to sing, and the remaining three are performed instrumentally. It is nice that the booklet includes the lyrics of the latter, which is helpful to get at least a hint of the way Viadana treats the text.

The motets are connected to the major feast days and other events of the ecclesiastical year. The texts are biblical or liturgical, and other pieces are settings of devotional poetry. The programme is divided into a number of chapters. The first is about Advent and Christmas. It opens with a piece included in an anthology published in Strasbourg in 1611, attesting to the dissemination of Viadana’s works and his international reputation. Hodie nobis cœlorum Rex is a responsory for the Matins at Christmas and is set for eight voices – a specimen of Viadana’s use of the cori spezzati technique. It was originally part of a book of 29 motets for double choir, but unfortunately only one of the parts has survived. This motet is one of three that are included in anthologies. Another anthology, published in 1598, comprises spiritual madrigals, among them Viadana’s Il sangue a pena havesti, which connects Christ’s birth with his passion. The chapter closes with an instrumental piece from a collection of 1610. These are scored for eight voices; as there are only four melody instruments here, I assume that the remaining parts are played on the organ.

The second chapter is entitled “Currus et auriga”, words from an antiphon for the feast of Saint Francis. Obviously, as Viadana was a Franciscan, this feast had a special meaning. This part of the programme opens with an antiphon for the Vespers for Saint Francis of Assisi. The rest of this chapter seems to have nothing to do with this feast. Festina quaesumus is a responsory for Advent. De profundis, one of the penitential psalms, is scored for bass, which was to be expected; the voice goes to the bottom of its range on “profundis”, which makes the sharp rise on the next words, “clamavi ad te”, all the more effective.

The story about Susanna, included in the apocryphal part of the Old Testament book of Daniel, has inspired many poets and composers. Lassus wrote a chanson on a text by Guillaume Guéroult, which was often the subject of diminutions. Here, in the third chapter, we get the diminutions by Francesco Rognoni. They are preceded by a concerto for solo voice from Viadana’s 1615 collection, which deals with the same subject.

The fourth chapter is devoted to Christ’s Passion, and here we get some pieces written in the stile antico: Vinea mea electa and Tenebrae factae sunt are responsories for Holy Week. They are taken from the collection Responsoria ad lamentationes of 1609. They are scored for four voices. The former is performed here by the four singers a capella, the latter by bass and instruments. The chapter closes with a piece for Easter: Ardens est cor meum is about one of the women who went to Jesus’s tomb only to find it empty, and guarded by angels.

Next are pieces for Corpus Christi, either about the “sacrament of piety” (O praeciosum) or about the love for Jesus (O dulcissime Jesu). The latter text can be heard in two settings: one for solo voice and basso continuo, the other in a four-part setting by the Danish composer Thomas Schattenberg. This is an arrangement of Viadana’s setting, which closely follows the original.

The last chapter is called Sancta Maria and includes a setting of a text from the Old Testament Song of Solomon; this love poetry has been given a spiritual meaning since ancient times, identifying the woman with the Virgin Mary. The Litanies were also frequently set, and – like many other composers – Viadana divides the text between the voices, thus creating a kind of dialogue.

The programme ends with Si acuero ut fulgur, another motet for double choir that has survived thanks to the inclusion in an anthology, that was used in Lutheran schools and churches in Germany. The text is from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, and therefore its inclusion in a ‘Lutheran collection’ was no problem.

It brings to a close a most interesting and compelling programme of music by a composer who is known by name, but whose music is seldom performed. This disc shows that the relative neglect is not justified at all. Obviously we get only a glimpse of his oeuvre, but it is enough to make one wish that more of his output is going to be performed. The programme has been put together in such a way that there is much variety, also thanks to the decisions with regard to the line-up. A special feature is that the vocal pieces are sometimes introduced by organ improvisations in the style of the time – an impressive achievement of Iason Marmaras.

The four singers are excellent. I first heard Suzie LeBlanc some time ago and I am happy to hear that she is still a great interpreter of this kind of repertoire. Charles Daniels is an old hand in early music as well, and his singing is as impressive as ever. Vicky St. Pierre is a new name to me; she has a remarkable voice – a real contralto with a strong low register. Roland Faust has also a good low register, which is necessary in De profundis. In Tenebrae factae sunt his voice blends perfectly with the instruments. All four singers show a perfect command of the declamatory way of singing that is needed in this repertoire. As I have no access to the scores, I don’t know what has been written out by Viadana and what has been added by the singers as ornamentation but the way they deal with the coloratura in these solo motets is impressive. The ensemble of voices and instruments is immaculate. The instrumentalists are true virtuosos on their respective instruments. Lastly, how nice that the programme was recorded in the Basilica of Santa Barbara in Mantua, which allowed for the use of the famous Antegnati organ of 1565, which produces a beautiful sound and also has the temperament needed to bring out the harmonic peculiarities in this repertoire.

This is an exciting disc that leaves one wanting more.

Johan van Veen

http://www.musica-dei-donum.org

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Track-list:

Lodovico Grossi da Viadana
Hodie nobis caelorum Rex a 8
Iason Marmaras (b. 1985)
[improvisation] Toccata del decimo tuono
Lodovico Grossi da Viadana
Il sangue a pena havesti a 5
Jubilate Deo
Sinfonia La Bergamasca
O stupor et gaudium
Festina quaesumus
De profundis
Ecce virgo mitto vos a 8
Iason Marmaras
[improvisation] Intonazione sopra Susanna
Lodovico Grossi da Viadana
Angustiae mihi
Francesco Rognoni (fl 1608-1626)
Susanna d’Orlando
Iason Marmaras
[improvisation] Toccata det terzo tuono
Lodovico Grossi da Viadana
Vinea mea electa a 4
O Domine Jesu
Tenebrae factae sunt a 4
Ardens cor meum
Iason Marmaras
[improvisation] Toccata per l’Elevazione
Lodovico Grossi da Viadana
O praeciosum
O dulcissime Jesu
Thomas Schattenberg (c1580-1622)
O dulcissime Jesu a 4
Lodovico Grossi da Viadana
O quam suavis
Ego flos campi
Iason Marmaras
[improvisation] Intonazione del quarto tono
Lodovico Grossi da Viadana
Letania del quarto tuono a 6
Si acuero ut fulgur a 8