Nuove Musiche

With this recording the acclaimed ensemble Le Nuove Musiche, led by director Krijn Koetsveld, have come full circle and at last completed their monumental undertaking of a complete cycle of Claudio Monteverdi’s books of madrigals. In bringing this endeavour to a close the group have returned to their starting point, recording a fresh take of perhaps the most famous set, Monteverdi’s groundbreaking Books V & VI, previously released by Le Nuove Musiche one decade ago at the start of this musical journey.

Following the publication of the collection Parnassus Musicus Ferdinandaeus in 1615, all kinds of compiled collections of sacred music started to appear, often featuring music for smaller ensembles and of course, in the new early-Baroque style, music scored for voice, instruments and basso continuo. The compiler, usually a composer himself, gathered works from his colleagues, added some of his own work and had the collection published. Nowadays because of copyright this would be unimaginable, particularly if publishing the compositions of one’s own contemporaries.

In 1650, seven years after Claudio Monteverdi’s death, the Venetian publisher Alessandro Vincenti, with the help of Francesco Cavalli, a student and successor of Monteverdi, decided to put together the compilation Messa a quattro voci et salmi. It was a unique tribute to Monteverdi. In an era when looking back was not fashionable, the preservation of written music was rare, and for the most part the names of dead musicians were quickly forgotten, Monteverdi’s fame seemed to persist for a long time.