Canzon del Principe
With its new release, DIVOX is proud to present a co-production made with artists of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) under the artistic direction of the famous musician and connaisseur of Ancient Music, Anthony Rooley. Together with the singer Evelyn Tubb, Andrea Marcon, Paolo Pandolfo and an exceptional consort of viols players, The Earle his Viols, Anthony Rooley has been able to make a personal dream come true: The recording of the essential œuvres of the extraordinary manuscript in the British Library, catalogued as MS Add. 30491 that he had discovered in 1973.
The manuscript was compiled by Luigi Rossi (1597/98-1653), presumably in the years around 1615 in Naples. He later took his copybook with him to Rome, where he copied additional pieces into it. According to a rhymed and enciphered note on the first page, it was initially intended as a collection of “canzone francesi”, i.e., contrapuntal instrumental music, by Giovanni de Macque (1548/50-1614), who since 1585 was the most influential musician in Naples (Libro di canzone francese del Signor Giovanni Demaqque / Che fù maestro di Luigi Rossi sfortunato / E sfortunato fù da quando naqque / Poiche 14 anni in corte è stato / Nepur un mezzo grosso mai ha alquistato - "Book of canzone francese by Signor Giovanni de Macque, who was the teacher of the unfor-tunate Luigi Rossi, who was unhappy since his birth and spent fourteen years at court without earning even a penny"). The majority of the pieces in the manuscript are in fact by de Macque, but the plan to compile an exclusive collection must have been quickly dropped in order to include other, above all Neapolitan composers. Rossi, in the meantime famous in his own right as a composer, ultimately copied monodies, for example by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and Jacopo Peri (1651-1633), and breath-takingly virtuoso diminutions for viola bastarda into the book. Thus, Rossi's manuscript allows an exceptional glance into the instrumental music of Naples at the begining of the seventeenth century. Simultaneously, it reflects the special interest of a musician in the artistry of his teacher and colleagues. Together with the above mentioned composers, this CD contents also works by Rinaldo Trematerra (+1603), Giovanni Maria Trabacci (c1575-1647), Orlando di Lasso (1530/32-1594), Orazio Bassani (c1550-1615), Ippolito (around 1600), Carlo Gesualdo (c1561-1613), Scipione Stella (1558/9-1622), Francesco Lambardo (around 1600), Fabritio Filimarino (around 1600) and Giaches de Wert (1535-1596).
This CD has already been awarded with a CHOC DU MONDE DE LA MUSIQUE (11/2001) and included in the «Reader’s Choice» of the 24 best CDs of 2001.