Cantus

While this first recording of 32 of Costanzo Festa’s 125 variations on the popular cantus firmus melody La Spagna is expertly performed and sounds terrific, this definitely is a disc that will appeal primarily to specialists and other devotees of 16th-century instrumental music. Listeners who appreciate such things will be fascinated with Festa’s imaginative and highly skilled treatment of the 37-note “theme”, which he preserves intact throughout each of his contrapunti, which employ varying numbers of parts, from three to 11. The latter, Contrapunto 125, which is “the last variation of the manuscript”, is grand and richly harmonious and Paul Van Nevel’s choice of instruments fully exploits these attributes.

Jordi Savall & Hesperion XX - Samuel Scheidt - Ludi Musici, Hamburg 1621 (1997) {Fontalis–Auvidis France ES 8559}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 307 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 147 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 35 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1997 Fontalis / Auvidis France | ES 8559
Classical / Baroque / Chamber Music

Samuel Scheidt (baptized November 3, 1587 – March 24, 1653) was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era. Samuel Scheidt published 4 collections entitled Ludi Musici between 1621 & 1627, whereas only the first publication (from which the present program is taken) survives complete. Scheidt continues to be the most significant of the early North German instrumental composers.

We don’t know much about Carlo Sturla, not even the dates of his birth and death, and he is absent from Google – quite an achievement! The sole reference to him is in the register of the Convent of Santa Brigida belonging to the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Sturla worked here, but apparently his assiduous attendance upon and training of the young women under his tutelage was viewed with some suspicion.

Orazio Benevoli was one of the most important Roman Baroque composers. Born in Rome in 1605, as a twelve-year-old he joined the pueri cantores (choirboys) of the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, where he remained until 1623. The following year he assumed the post of maestro di cappella at Santa Maria in Trastevere; then at Santo Spirito in Saxia and later on at San Luigi dei Francesi. In 1644 he moved to Vienna to serve at the court of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Hapsburg. Upon his return to Rome he briefly served as maestro di cappella at Santa Maria Maggiore before becoming the choirmaster of the Cappella Giulia at the Vatican on November 7, 1646, where he remained for over 25 years until his death on June 17, 1672.

Ethno-classical project Adiemus was spearheaded by composer/conductor Karl Jenkins, a longtime member of prog-rock innovators the Soft Machine. The concept originated as a piece Jenkins penned for Delta Airlines television commercial, its fusion of ethnic vocals and orchestral backing proving so popular with consumers that a full-length Adiemus album, 1995's Songs of Sanctuary, was created with the aid of vocalist Miriam Stockley and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The record was a hit on both popular and classical charts.
The concept of the album was to create modern music using classical forms, such as rondo and ternary, and not individual songs. To further the universal aspect of the music, all the vocals are written as vowel and consonants sounds…