Giovanni Battista Riccio (1563-after 1620)
Vocem iucunditatis – Sacred and Instrumental Music
Estrivagante Ensemble/Riccardo Doni
rec. 2024, Seminario Vescovile, Vigevano, Italy
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as a download
Dynamic CDS8080 [57]

Giovanni Battista Riccio is a well-known composer; his works regularly appear on concert programmes and in anthologies on disc. However, until the release of this disc under review, no recording seems to have been devoted entirely to his music. That is not surprising; his extant output is rather small, and the two books to which the present disc is devoted include a number of pieces that are incomplete and some reconstruction work was needed to make them suitable for performance.

Little is known about Riccio; we know neither the year of his death nor where he received his musical education but his music displays the strong influence of Giovanni Gabrieli; several of Riccio’s works are partly arrangements of pieces by him. In 1609 Riccio was appointed organist at the Venetian confraternity of S Giovanni Evangelista, although he was a violinist by profession, as his contract describes him – and that is all we know about his career.

His oeuvre consists of three books with the title of Divini lodi musicali, which were published between 1612 (although that is the year of the second edition; the first may have been published earlier) and 1620. They consist of instrumental pieces and sacred vocal works: concertos, a mass and a Magnificat. In addition, one canzona is included in an anthology.

Music at that time was mostly printed in separate partbooks rather than scores, so it is not surprising that some have been lost and that is the case with the first two books by Riccio. However, the number of incomplete pieces is not that great. In the first book seven out of 28 pieces are incomplete, meaning that one of the partbooks is missing. The same is the case with the second book, in which five out of 35 pieces are incomplete. This indicates that there is little reason to almost completely ignore these two books although it seems that most ensembles focus on the third.

The instrumental pieces are mostly canzonas (sometimes the word canzona is oddly translated as ‘song’ in the booklet). They consist of different sections following each other attacca. That is a hallmark of what later Athanasius Kircher called the stylus phantasticus. The sections can differ in tempo and in meter, switching from binary to ternary and back. They are scored for two instruments and basso continuo. The instruments to be used are not specified, as was customary at the time, leaving the line-up to the discretion of the performers. The Estrovagante Ensemble has decided to use only violins.

The vocal works are scored for one to four voices. Although the pieces for four voices could be performed with a larger ensemble, most pieces are for a smaller number of voices, and the declamatory nature of the vocal parts strongly indicate a performance by solo voices, as is the case here.

Each sacred concerto has an indication of the scoring, but Riccio mostly offers an alternative. Ego dormio, for instance, has “basso e tenore overo soprano”. The performers can decide to perform the high part with a soprano or a tenor. Why one voice has been chosen over another is not revealed with one exception: Indica mihi is a dialogue taken from the Old Testament book Song of Songs. The scoring says “basso e soprano overo tenore”. In the liner-notes tell us that the upper part is performed by the soprano “the better to render the dialogue between the bride and groom (…)”. I find this rather odd. First, although the text indicates the roles (Lo sposo – La sposa), the fact that the role of the bride can be sung by a tenor indicates that there was no connection between a character and the gender of the performer. The reader may remember that the concerto Nigra sum in Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine is scored for tenor, although it is a woman who figures in the Song of Songs. Secondly, in Riccio’s time all sacred music was sung by male voices, so this argument makes no sense.

The fact that these sacred concertos are scored for solo voices allows for a close connection between text and music. These concertos include several clear examples, some of which are mentioned in the liner-notes. Such things are used to emphasize the character or importance of the text. In Exultat Maria, the last line is extended: “O happy, o loving, o sweet Virgin Mary”. That is not surprising given the importance of the veneration of Mary in Italy (and especially in Venice). Likewise, in Ego dormio, mentioned above, the first line is split into two contrasting halves: “I sleep – but my heart waketh”. A special case is Salve Regina in echo: it is scored for two sopranos, the second of which either imitates the first, or repeats the latter’s last word. The echo technique was quite popular at the time; I refer here again to Monteverdi’s Vespers. The same technique is also used in one of the instrumental pieces, the only Canzone in the collection of 1612.

The way pieces have been reconstructed is explained in the booklet. Obviously, it is partly speculative, and it is not claimed that these reconstructions are ‘authentic’. However, the decisions have been taken with great care and the utmost respect for Riccio’s style and the conventions of his time. To my ears, they sound very convincing and it is pleasing that the performers have put so much effort into making the incomplete pieces fit for performance.

As a result, this recording is highly enjoyable. That is first due to Riccio; these pieces may not be of the calibre of what we know of Monteverdi or Grandi, but they are certainly not to be overlooked. A recording such as this is well justified, and I can imagine Riccio’s sacred concertos, for instance, as replacements of antiphons in Vesper performances. Secondly, the quality of this recording is due to the performers. The four singers are excellent: they master the art of declamation, which is the main skill each interpreter of this kind of repertoire needs. Their voices blend perfectly, which is another important aspect, given that most pieces are for two to four voices. The only issue may be that the dynamic differentiation could have been stronger: I would have liked a more frequent and marked application of the messa di voce. The instrumentalists are first class as well. The canzonas receive excellent performances. It is interesting that two pieces for two voices are performed in two versions: first, the original with two singers, then a performance in which the upper voice is performed by the violin, with additional diminutions.

In conclusion, this disc is an important step towards a more complete portrait of a composer who has left more than just a few canzonas. It is to be hoped that more of Riccio’s vocal music will be recorded.

Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen

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Contents
Canzon a quattro (1614) – Canto, alto, tenore e basso
Exultat Maria (1614) – Canto, alto, tenore e basso
Salve Regina (1612) – Doi soprani overo tenori in echo
Canzon a due in echo (1614) – A doi soprani in echo
Dilectus meus (1614) – Basso et duoi soprani overo tenori
Vocem iucunditatis (1614) – Basso a una voce
Ascensionis hodie (1612) – Basso e soprano overo tenore
Canzon a due (1614) – Basso e soprano
In te Domine speravi (1612) – Basso e soprano overo tenore
Ascensionis hodie (1612) – Basso e soprano overo tenore diminuito al soprano Deus canticum novum (1614) – A doi tenori overo soprani
Ego sum panis vivus (1614) – Canto, tenore, alto et basso
Surrexit Dominus (1612) – Basso e soprano overo tenore
Canzone (1612) – Basso e soprano overo alla quarta bassa flautino e basso
Ego dormio (1612) – Basso e tenore overo soprano
Surrexit Dominus (1612) – Basso e soprano overo tenore diminuito al soprano
Indica mihi (1612) – Basso e soprano overo tenore
Congratulamini mihi (1612) – Basso e soprano overo tenore
Ave Domine (1614) – Basso et duoi soprani overo tenori
Sonata a quattro (1614) – Canto, alto, tenore et basso