94647
Francesca Cassinari
Elena Carzaniga
Colonna T riumphate
fideles
COMPLETE MOTETS FOR SOLO VOICE AND INSTRUMENTS
Paolo Borgonovo
Salvo Vitale
Sung texts available at www.brilliantclassics.com
Francesca Cassinari soprano 路 Elena Carzaniga alto Paolo Borgonovo tenor 路 Salvo Vitale bass Astrarium Consort 路 Carlo Centemeri
Giovanni Paolo Colonna (1637 – 1695) Triumphate fideles complete motets for solo voice and instruments CD1 54’20 Ecce iubar, ecce aurorae for a Saint (soprano, violins, continuo) GPC19 1. Ecce iubar, ecce aurorae 2’19 2. Salve dies beata 0’50 3. Triumphales, immortales 1’41 4. Aeterna scandit limina 0’45 5. In hac die tam solemni 1’24 6. Alleluia 1’03 O lucidissima dies for the Holy Spirit (tenor, violins, continuo) GPC21 7. O lucidissima dies 1’21 8. Orbi sacer redit amor 5’18 9. O felix vere dies 0’29 10. O splendida aurora 1’54 11. O vere beatam 0’23 12. Alleluia 1’00 O ingens divini presulis munus for a Saint (bass, violins, continuo) GPC28 13. O ingens divini presulis munus 1’21 14. Ad sidera accedit 4’06 15. O felix, o laeta dies 0’32 16. Laeta semper exultando 4’12 Ad gaudia gentes throughout the Year (alto, violins, continuo) GPC26 17. Ad gaudia gentes 2’16 18. Intuemini fidelis animae 0’41 19. Sit amor in spe 3’47 2
20. Eripuit nos de inimicis nostris 21. Ergo laetas date voces
1’01 3’23
Ad pugnas fideles throughout the Year (tenor, violins, continuo) GPC22 22. Ad pugnas fideles 1’09 23. Expergiscimini fideles omnes 0’24 24. Mundi surgit ad honores 1’59 25. Eia igitur 0’26 26. Ad bella venite 1’00 27. Alleluia 1’11 Sacri amoris ad ardores for the Blessed Sacrament (bass, violins, continuo) GPC30 28. Sacri amoris ad ardores 1’13 29. Egredimini filiae Sion 0’43 30. Iam gaudent aethera 1’36 31. Descendit Caelesist amor 0’31 32. Ad sacros fulgores 1’28 33. O amor, o salus, o vita 0’29 34. Laudis ergo sonet honor 0’56 35. Alleluia 1’08 CD2 51’59 O sidera, o coeli for a Saint (bass, violins, continuo) GPC27 1. O sidera, O coeli 3’04 2. Antonii Beatissimi est 1’01 3. Quid ergo expectatis 2’04 4. Exultantes spirent venti 2’41
O coeli devota for the Blessed Virgin (alto, violins, continuo) GPC25 5. O Coeli devota 1’40 6. Angeli currite 1’15 7. Ecce ancilla trinitatis 1’21 8. Ad delicias, ad hortum 0’32 9. Haec ergo corde condite 1’24 10. Alleluia 0’56 Triumphate fideles for the Holy Cross (bass, violins, continuo) GPC29 11. Triumphate fideles 1’00 12. Properate, festinate 2’11 13. O beatissima crux 0’38 14. Iesu amara 1’41 15. Crux bona 0’26 16. Per te laetus exultat Olympus 1’30 17. O crux venerabilis 0’33 18. Alleluia 1’04 Gaudete, Cantate for a Virgin (soprano, violins, continuo) GPC24 19. Gaudete, Cantate 20. Exoritur in terris novi syderis lux 21. Salve Sancta Christi sponsa 22. Effloruit in Jesse 23. Gaudete, Cantate 24. Alleluia
2’18 0’58 1’22 0’25 1’14 2’12
Ad novum caeli iubar for the Blessed Virgin (tenor, violins, continuo) GPC23 25. Ad novum Caeli iubar 1’38 26. Haec est Maria 0’28 27. Ista mundi per errores 2’06 28. O, quam pulchra es Maria! 0’35 29. Tu mater, tu sponsa 1’01 30. Tu fax es amoris 2’49 31. Alleluia 0’49
Ad amores, ad honores for a Confessor (soprano, violins, continuo) GPC20 32. Ad amores, ad honores 33. Eia? Eia quam mora? 34. O laetus triumphus 35. Alleluia
4’04 0’21 2’29 1’46
Francesca Cassinari soprano Elena Carzaniga alto Paolo Borgonovo tenor Salvo Vitale bass Astrarium Consort Andrea Vassalle, Mauro Massa violins Noelia Reverte Reche gamba Flora Papadopoulos baroque harp Grasiela Setra Dantas harpsichord Carlo Sgarro violone Carlo Centemeri organ and conductor
Recording: November 4-6 and 8-9, 2014 at Sant’Antonio, Milano Sound Engineer: Edoardo Lambertenghi Recording assistance: Eleonora Regorda Editing: Eleonora Regorda Mastering: Edoardo Lambertenghi Tuning: 415 Hz, Vallotti Edition: Carlo Centemeri Latin text revision: Paolo Borgonovo Cover photo: “Thriumpf of the Cross”(1631), fresco by Il Genovese (Giovanni Carlone), church of S. Antonio Abate, Milan. Photo: © Edoardo Lambertenghi p & © 2015 Brilliant Classics
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Giovanni Paolo Colonna (1637 – 1695) Triumphate fideles In the early 1680’s, the editorial market of Bologna was enriched by four new volumes of music, the first ones ever published by Giovanni Paolo Colonna. Born in 1637, Colonna had been maestro di cappella of San Petronio, the major musical institution of Bologna since 1674, while at the same time writing oratorios and operas for Bologna and Modena, teaching children and working as a composer for several other churches: therefore he wasn’t the typical young composer who was publishing his first pieces to gain fame (and money from the dedicatees). The fact that he could deliver more than 40 new compositions in about one a year may be explained as a carefully considered decision to make his editorial debut by collecting together his best creations. Colonna was the son of an organ builder, and an organ builder himself (some of his instruments are still preserved today in Modena and in Forli’). Music was the family business: all his brothers were musicians, and among his ancestors we find no less than Zarlino. He learnt organ with Filippuzzi, but he soon had the chance to improve his counterpoint skills in Rome with the highest authorities of the time (Carissimi, among others). When he came back to Bologna, in addition to being in charge, with his father, for the maintenance of the organs in San Petronio, he was appointed second organist in the same church, until the fabbriceria chose him in 1674 as maestro di cappella, while remaining the main contractor for the maintenance of the organs. The quality of musical performance in San Petronio, at the time, was incredibly high: musicians like Giuseppe Torelli, the Bononcini’s, Jacchini, Domenico Gabrielli were playing in the orchestra and would sometimes be hired as composers too. Colonna departed from the style of his predecessor, Cazzati by writing for multiple choirs placed in the two organ lofts, on both sides of the altar, thus involving about sixty musicians for each performance. Colonna had frequent discussions with the 4
Fabbriceria for this reason, because nobody in Bologna before him had employed such a huge number of performers: therefore, for every feast, there were more and more requests to increase the budget in order to hire more musicians, to pay copyists, to buy clean paper for the parts, etc. The fabbriceria frequerently complained about these expensive productions, but the fact that the services at St. Petronio were always an impressive success was a great satisfaction for everybody (especially because, in these cases, the people’s donations were very generous). One side of the composer’s genius that remained hidden until today, however, was Colonna’s ability in writing smaller compositions: the collection recorded here (his only one for solo voice) contains all his pieces for solo voice and instruments and shows both a remarkable use of counterpoint, and a tasteful approach to the new concertante style. It is unlikely that Colonna wrote these twelve motets just as he was about to publish them. The motets for solo voices were probably music written for the offertory or for the communion of the solemn masses, as a contrast to the huge choral moments of the ordinarium missae, frequently written for double/triple choir, plus strings, trumpets and double organ continuo. These cantatas, in fact, require virtuoso singers and were probably written for the soloists of the cappella to display their skills. The subtitles describe the ecclesiastical feast for which each cantata was suitable, while several other details can be inferred from the structure of the pieces themselves (for example, “Ad gaudia gentes” could be performed all year long, but it could be particularly suitable for the Lent, since it is lacking in a final Alleluia). However, it is also possible that these indications were not followed literally: in fact, in the Bologna specimen of the 1681 edition, the lyrics of some cantatas are crossed out and replaced with different words, indicating the use of the music for different occasions. The twelve cantatas recorded here are all the surviving examples of this kind of composition in the opus of Colonna: actually, Marc Vanscheeuwijck catalogued a thirteenth cantata (O magnum divini amoris opus, GPC 219), preserved in a 5
manuscript copy in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. While it would appear to be a different work for those collected here, this is not the case because this cantata is actually an exact copy of O ingens divini presulis munus with a different text, this time, for the Holy Spirit (while the 1681 version is intended for the feast of a Saint), thus confirming the common practice of re-using of the same music in different occasions, by changing the lyrics. The twelve cantatas are divided in a group of six for soprano o tenore, two for alto and four for bass. Almost all the cantatas are built alternating recitatives with solo arias (usually with instrumental ritornelli), concluding with the customary Alleluia in concertato style. It is however quite interesting to point out that in three of the four bass cantatas all the movements are written in concertato style and, in this case, really anticipate the solo motet that became one of the main features of sacred vocal music in the following centuries, from Vivaldi to Mozart, for example, Mozart’s “Exultate Jubilate”. Colonna was appreciated worldwide. He had been the teacher of many famous composers. His music was modern and tasteful. Audiences crowded San Petronio to listen to his performances. His books were printed and reprinted over and over again, both in legal and illegal editions. Why did the world forget him then? A possible reason can be found in the lively controversy that arose in 1685 between Colonna and Arcangelo Corelli. During a chamber music lesson, while reading some newly delivered Corelli scores with his pupils, Colonna noticed that one Allemanda included in Corelli’s sonata terza op II featured several parallel fifths (a very bad harmony mistake). After a brief discussion with his colleague Matteo Ziani, he persuaded the latter to write a letter to Corelli (who came from Fusignano, near Bologna, and learnt both violin and composition in the Bologna area) kindly asking him more information about that weird choice (“since your compositions are so beautiful, the composers like to put them into score to learn from them, but since they found several parallel fifths with no apparent reason […] they’d like to talk to you 6
to know more about them”). Corelli’s answer was bursting with arrogance: “…such Virtuosos can’t understand [my music]; no wonder, because from that I understand that their knowledge in terms of harmony and composition is really elementary; if they knew what harmony is they wouldn’t ask such questions, usually driven by ignorance […] I showed [the passage] to Foggia, Liberati and Simonelli and they all told me that it’s beautiful […] I won’t tell more about it, because I think this is enough to satisfy your curiosity and to enhance your knowledge about what art is”. A man who could write motets and masses for three or four choirs couldn’t accept such an answer from a fiddler: a flamboyant controversy exploded, involving Ziani as well as other authorities like Liberati, Foggia, Celano, Perti. After some months, Liberati briefly closed the discussion saying that Colonna was just splitting hairs, because a master like Corelli, who at the time was famous all around Europe, mustn’t find on his way “somebody who, instead of appreciating [Corelli’s] virtues and raising his praise to the stars, tries to nitpick and criticizes useless details”. In other words, Corelli was unquestionably right simply because he was more famous than Colonna. Or better, it wasn’t a good idea to say in public that Corelli was wrong: a letter from Corso Celano to Colonna confirmed Colonna’s findings, “the passage you sent me […] is certainly incorrect” but cautioned Colonna from “telling anybody about his opinion” and from “showing this letter to anybody”. The cherry on top came in 1694 (nine years later!), when Colonna received from Rome a copy of his own Salmi Op.11 anonymously annotated with a huge amount of corrections. Somebody, later, it appears, remembered that during the controversy Corelli had written in a letter to Perti “all those people who like to look for someone else’s mistakes should always be very careful, in order to be ready when the time should come to check their own works”. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It is really astonishing to read about this controversy today, especially considering the cantatas recorded here. Like the best of his contemporaries, Colonna tries to find his own language from the old church modes to the newly developing tonality, and 7
his style is full of creativity and imagination: while Corelli was forcing the present rules to find a new language, Colonna was studying the past to understand the future, with an approach similar to what would have done Johann Sebastian Bach, half a century later: no wonder that both composers, considered by their contemporaries as old fogeys, had to wait for more than a century to be rediscovered (the first modern editions of Colonna date back to the 1820’s, more or less around the same time that the young Mendelssohn was busy conducting the St. Matthew Passion.). But, as always, in medio stat virtus, because it’s undeniable the overwhelming influence of Corelli on the music of the following centuries, from Vivaldi to Schnittke and beyond. After a short illness, in which the fabbriceria cut the budget for music and musicians in order to spare some money while the master wasn’t busy in preparing giant projects, Colonna died suddenly for a heart attack on Oct 28th 1695, while still in charge as Maestro di Cappella in San Petronio; his successor was his former pupil Giacomo Antonio Perti, whose style would drive the Bologna School towards the more galante style of the XVIII century. It is very interesting, indeed, how much Colonna had already imagined anticipated this future in the cantatas recorded here, written nearly twenty years before, with their virtuoso vocal lines and their his theatrical style, that prefigure the high Baroque cantata da camera. © 2015 Carlo Centemeri
Notes on the edition In absence of a good modern edition, we needed to prepare our own. The Mottetti sacri a voce sola con due violini appeared in print 1681 under the colophon of Giacomo Monti and, later, in 1691 under that of Pier Maria Monti (five partbooks: parte che canta, Violino I, Violino II, Bassetto viola, Organo). Today each of these two editions is available in more than 10 different libraries in the world, and this is a clear sign of the great esteem in which this music was held. It is very important to consider, however, the anonymous manuscript copy (in full score) available in 8
Modena’s Biblioteca Estense, as well as the copy made by Philidor (now preserved in the Bibliotheque Narionale de France) also in full score. Both these sources have been very helpful in correcting some mistakes that are present in both the printed editions: one of the main problems are the frequent errors in the multiple rests in the Violino primo and Violino secondo parts. In these cases, we have adopted the solutions appearing in both sources, which – luckily – were in full agreement. We should point out, however, that Philidor (probably for performance reasons) omitted the part for the bassetto viola, reducing the work to two violins, voice and basso continuo. Some recent recordings erroneously used this source, probably not being aware of the discrepancies with the original editions. A remark should also be made about the Latin text: the lyrics, whose author(s) is/ are unknown, are written in a characteristic Baroque Latin, with many influences from Italian. It is likely that many errors resulted from a limited knowledge of the language by the printer, but also from the fact that the author of the poetry could have been responsible for the errors. Two examples are the verse Orbi sacer reddit amor (in O Lucidissima dies), which makes no sense as written, because the sentence is meaningless in absence of an object, (the sacred love gives back (what?) to the world). The word reddit (present in the oldest editions, the Philidor and an authoritative modern scholarly edition) should instead be read as redit: in this case, the verse can be translated: “The sacred love comes back to the world” making much more sense. Another case is Claudes Erebi (in Ad pugnas fideles): the word Claudes simply does not exist and should be instead read as Clades Erebi (the slaughters of hell). The catalog number GPC refer to the catalogue compiled by Marc Vanscheeuwijck in his book “The cappella musicale of San Petronio in Bologna under Giovanni Paolo Colonna (1674-1695)”, Institut Historic du Belge de Rome, 2003 Finally, since two of the cantatas require the singer to name the Saint of the current feast, during the session we chose St. Charles (because the cantata was recorded on 4th November, his feast day) and St. Anthony, for two reasons: firstly, St. Anthony 9
was the patron saint of the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna, and, secondly, we recorded this album in a beautiful church dedicated to him. © 2015 Carlo Centemeri
Sources: • “Motetti Sacri a voce sola con due Violini. All’Altezza Serenissima di Francesco Secondo Duca di Modona Reggio, &c. Da Gio. Paolo Colonna Maestro di Capella in S. Petronio di Bologna, e Accademico Filaschiso, e Filarmonico. Opera Seconda.”, Bologna, Giacomo Monti 1681 (1st edition) • “Motetti Sacri a Voce Sola, con due Violini del Signore Gio. Paolo Colonna Maestro di Capella in S. Petronio di Bologna, et Accademico Filaschiso, e Filarmonico. Opera Seconda” Bologna, Pier Maria Monti 1691 (reprint of the first edition) • Manuscript full score copy by André Philidor, 1730 (F-Pn - BNF) (the bassetto viola part is missing); • Anonymous full score copy (I-MOe).
Astrarium Consort thanks: Paolo Borgonovo, who revised the Latin texts, proofread the scores and provided a truly priceless support during all stages of this project; Joshua Cheek, who revised the English text in the present booklet. Laura Faoro, Gian Francesco Amoroso, Alma Zeccara, Daniele Fracassi, Fabiana Nisoli, Roberto Milleddu for the helpful suggestions during the making of the recording. Mons. Gianni Zappa, Mr. Roberto Bergamini and all the staff at St. Antonio for their priceless support and patience during all the recording sessions. 10
Astrarium Consort is a collective research project, founded in Milan in 2014. Its members are music scholars and musicians, coming from all over the world, who have been working with the main groups of early music. The consort projects are dedicated to the rediscovery of unpublished music and forgotten composers of the XVII and XVIII century, through recordings and editions. 11