The Sacri concerti a voce sola. Con la Partitura per l’organo, published in Venice by Bartolomeo Magni in 1642, have been composed during Filago stay in Venice and follow a long silence in the author publications, according to what Filago himself writes in the preface. This is the fourth and last print of this author: the preceding volumes published in 1611 and 1619 contain polyphonic motets, and another volume, presumably published between these two, is lost. The volume of 1611 is extant in an incomplete copy.
May 2004 was the 400th anniversary of the death of Claudio Merulo (1533-1604), a great organist and composer of the Renaissance. We are pleased to present the world première recording of his complete organ works. These works represent the complete range of musical development of compositions for keyboard instruments in the 16th century. Since their quality had no equal at that time, Merulo's opus is of immense importance for the history of music. Tapping the full potential of the then usual forms of expression and structure, Merulo a contemporary of Gabrieli and his colleague as ''maestro di cappella'' at the Marcus Cathedral in Venice was groundbreaking in a highly creative era.
We are pleased to present volume 2 of the world premiere recording of the complete organ works of Merulo. These works represent the complete range of musical development of compositions for keyboard instruments in the 16th century. Since their quality had no equal at that time, Merulo's opus is of immense importance for the history of music. Tapping the full potential of the then usual forms of expression and structure, Merulo a contemporary of Gabrieli and his colleague as 'maestro di cappella' at the Marcus Cathedral in Venice was an important pathfinder in a highly creative era. And he opened up a new one: the Baroque period.
Talented concert soloist Milena Frigé presents the toccatas of Scarlatti on the Tamburini Organ of Chiesa di Santa Bernardetta in Milan, and a Granziera Harpsichord modelled after a 1703 Grimbaldi instrument, representative of the instruments for which Scarlatti composed these works.
Today we know that the reason for this penetration of Italian musical tastes into the small principality of Weimar lay elsewhere: the passion of the young prince Johann Ernst of Saxony for the Venetian concertos (and those of Vivaldi in particular). During the prince’s long period of study in Amsterdam, he had occasion to enjoy the exhibitions on the organ in the local Nieuwe Kerk by the blind virtuoso Jan Jacob de Graaf.
From the little that is recorded about Zipoli's life, we may understand that he pursued two paths during his lifetime: music and religion. At first it seems it was the religious road that led him to South America, but in fact, as well as wanting to take his vows in the order of the Jesuits, he was summoned to the New World because he was a musician as well as a missionary. As a child, he sang in the choir and was granted the support necessary to allow him to study in Florence. In 1709, he moved to Naples to study with Alessandro Scarlatti.