MONTEVERDI

Vespro della Festa di San Giovanni Battista

Vespers for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

The Santa Cruz Chorale & Monterey Bay Baroque Sinfonietta

Paul Vorwerk, Conductor

Program Notes

Liturgical music can be divided into two great classes: (1) music for the Mass and (2) music for the Offices, or the daily hours. In most European centers, Vespers, the office which closes the day, seems to have attracted the most elaborate and festive music of all the hours. Nowhere has this been more true than in 16th and 17th century Venice, where the ruling doges used the pomp and splendour of this service as a political tool and to foster civic pride. Monteverdi, who served the Gonzaga Dukes in Mantua and was Maestro di Cappella at the great cathedral of Saint Mark's in Venice in the early years of the 17th century, composed a large body of music for these purposes. In addition to the great collection known as "The 1610 Vespers,"¹ Monteverdi left several other settings of Vespers Psalms. These were published in various collections so that other musicians in Northern Italian churches could pick and choose among them and assemble services as the local liturgical practices, the occasion and the forces at hand suggested. By locating the appropriate antiphons and hymns for feast days and other occasions, 21st centruy musicians can frame Monteverdi's marvellous church music in various contexts which suggest the liturgical and performance practices of the time, irrespective of whether the particular selection they make was ever performed as such during the composer's lifetime.

The works included on this recording are assembled to honor St. John the Baptist, who, among his other attributes, is known by some as a patron saint of choral singers, probably because of the connection to the Gregorian hymn, , used by Guido d'Arezzo in the 11th century to develop the somization ("ut [do], re, mi...") system.

The psalm settings are from Selva Morale (1640) and a posthumous collection called Messa a quattro voci e Salmi (1650). The Gregorian antiphons which precede the Psalms, and the hymn are chosen according to the rubrics for First and Scond Vespers for the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist as found in the Roman Breviary. Scholars such as James Harrold Moore² have pointed out several ways in which liturgical practices in Venice were at variance with those of Rome, expecially in the specific choices of antiphons. In this spirit, we have taken some liberty in the order, repetition and the specific choices of antiphons, hoping to best complement the Psalms they introduce.

The Psalm settings chosen reflect the many styles in which Monteverdi worked. Dixit, Beatus vir, and Laudate Dominum are concerted works in the new Baroque style with six to eight vocal parts plus two violins and an independent basso-continuo part. Laudate Pueri and the Magnificat are in the old style of 16th century polyphony. The curious setting of Confitebor is marked "in the French style," which may refer to a prominent cantilena melody and (mostly) syllabic treatment of the text. The lovely hymn is a simple devotional song with instrumental ritornellos.

There is ample evidence that on occasion, instrumental sonatas were inserted into the liturgy of Venetian Vespers. Monteverdi's famous sonata in the 1610 Vespers provides a cue for our inclusion in the present recording of a work by one of his colleagues. Dario Castello is remembered today as "Musico della Serenissima Signoria di Venetia in S. Marco, & Capo di Compagnia de Instrumenti" ("Musician of the most serence company of gentlemen in Venice at Saint Mark's and chief of the group of instrumentalists"). One can infer from this that he worked directly with Monteverdi. The third sonata is typical of his work, with its division into four main sections with well-defined areas in what later came to be called "keys," incorporating also the style and gestures of Monteverdi's seconda prattica.

1. Sanctissimae Virgini Missa senis vocibus {ad ecclesiarum choros}, ac Vesperae pluribus decantandae, cum nonnullis sacris concentibus, ad Sacella sive Principum Cubicula accommodata...1610, or, "A Mass of the most holy Virgin for six voices {for church choirs} and Vespers to be sung by more voices, with a few sacred songs suitable for the chapels or chambers of princes...1610"
2. Vespers at St. Marks, UMI Research Press, 1981