Beatus Vir

The sumptuous music of Giovanni Paolo Colonna is brought to life in this concert recording to honour Bologna’s patron saint at the Chapel of San Petronio Basilica – the very place in which this great musician was organist and chapel master in the mid-17th century.

This new release is the newest installment in the DUX Lukaszewski Collection, which showcases and presents the musical achievements of Pawel Lukaszewski. The characteristic stylistic language of Lukaszewski is close to artists such as Arvo Pärt, John Tavener, and Mikolaj Górecki, and at the same time it strongly refers to the pre-modern traditions of Renaissance vocal music and Gregorian chant. The key work on this album is the cycle titled Beatus vir, composed between the years 1996 and 2007. It consists of eight songs recalling – successively in this recording – the following characters: Saint Adalbert, Saint Martin, Saint Stanislaus, Saint John of Dukla, Saint Paul, Saint Anthony, Saint Zygmunt Szczesny-Felinski, and the Venerable Servant of God Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.

Longstanding partners Sandrine Piau and Christophe Rousset have frequently performed the Stabat Mater, an emblematic work of the eighteenth-century Neapolitan repertory, both together and with other musicians. It was therefore a natural step for them to record this supreme masterpiece of sacred music. They are joined here by a relative newcomer to Les Talens Lyriques who has also become a regular partner with the ensemble, the American countertenor Christopher Lowrey (already heard on an Alpha disc devoted to Monteverdi, Alpha 216).

The College of Music of SantOnofrio, one of the wonders of baroque Naples, was founded in the late 1500s as a foundling institution to train orphans and abandoned children to work as artisans. Within a few years, its educational policy had shifted to musical training and singing and during the 1600s it was home to the finest composers in the city.

Longstanding partners Sandrine Piau and Christophe Rousset have frequently performed the Stabat Mater, an emblematic work of the eighteenth-century Neapolitan repertory, both together and with other musicians. It was therefore a natural step for them to record this supreme masterpiece of sacred music. They are joined here by a relative newcomer to Les Talens Lyriques who has also become a regular partner with the ensemble, the American countertenor Christopher Lowrey (already heard on an Alpha disc devoted to Monteverdi, Alpha 216).

Balance of splendour and measure: It is the story of a renaissance. Sorely neglected for many years, the music of Jan Dismas Zelenka has in recent decades regained its place on the concert stage thanks to newly edited scores and enthusiastic performers. Born in Bohemia, trained in Prague and later reaching his full maturity in Dresden, Zelenka placed his own unique stamp on the music of his age, already enjoying great admiration during his lifetime.

«Liveliness of ingenuity and musical virtues». Even in the absence of the baptismal certificate, the birth date of Michel’Angelo Grancini (also known as “Grancino” or “Granzini”), is deduced as 1605, on the basis of two sources: his death certificate and a particular statement contained in the work Ateneo dei Letterati Milanesi (Milan, 1670) by Abbot Filippo Picinelli (1604-1667). From the first document, dated 1669, it is clear that, at the time of his death, Grancini was seventy years old; from the second it is evident that “at the age of 17, being organist in the Church of S. Maria del Paradiso, he began to publish works”.

«Liveliness of ingenuity and musical virtues». Even in the absence of the baptismal certificate, the birth date of Michel’Angelo Grancini (also known as “Grancino” or “Granzini”), is deduced as 1605, on the basis of two sources: his death certificate and a particular statement contained in the work Ateneo dei Letterati Milanesi (Milan, 1670) by Abbot Filippo Picinelli (1604-1667). From the first document, dated 1669, it is clear that, at the time of his death, Grancini was seventy years old; from the second it is evident that “at the age of 17, being organist in the Church of S. Maria del Paradiso, he began to publish works”.

These motets for one, two and four voices, were composed to augment the repertoire of the choir school of Saint Michel et Sainte Gudule in Brussels, where Fiocco was singing master. Nicolas Achten who directs Scherzi Musicali, found this music “immediately appealing” and hopes that this recording will show the quality of the work of this neglected composer.