Programma II: Epiphany

The music will be in my dreams all night. Drei schöne Ding sind

EPIC concert this afternoon! Thank you!!

...lovely instrumental introduction to exquisite passages

David Denton David's Review Corner, November 2015 Even among the Early Music admirers, the 17th century Italian, Bonifazio Graziani will be largely unknown, though in his lifetime he was a major church composer. That fame extended to a commission by Pope Innocent X to compose appropriate music for the ‘most holy year’ of 1650, and, unlike many other church composers of the time, his music was subsequently published. Having studied theology, he spent much of his life in Rome as an ordained priest, sharing his time between ecclesiastical duties and that of the maestro di cappella for La Chiesa del Gesu. It was a position of considerable importance, and he would have been obliged to produce a flow of motets and music for special occasions. That he, and his church compatriots, met those exhausting demands with works of such high quality was remarkable. Just turn to track 5, the short, Quid est hoc, to find music that falls so attractively on the ear, while the more extended ‘oratorios’, Adae Oratorium and Filli Prodigi Oratorium—which appear to date from 1650—were more complex and contrasting in their content, both drawing their text from biblical sources, and inducing some exploratory harmonies for the period. As to the performance, Garrick Comeaux, the founder of the North American group, Consortium Carissimi, writes in the booklet notes, “we make no pretence of a historical reconstruction”. That is apparent by the use of female voices in place of boy sopranos, which will considerably change the texture, and it goes a stage further with their use of a marked vibrato when a pure tone was required. That is somewhat mitigated by the ‘authentic’ sounds from the instrumental group of archlute, theorbo, viola da gamba, sackbut, harpsichord and chamber organ. A reverberant church acoustic is ideal, and it is...

David Denton David's Review Corner, February 2016 Last November, Consortium Carissimi frequented us with the motets of Bonifazio Graziani, a now totally forgotten 17th century composer of Italian church music. In my review, I sketched his life as having spent most of his years as an ordained priest in Rome, sharing his time between those ecclesiastical duties and that of the maestro di cappella for La Chiesa del Gesu, a position that in itself was of considerable importance. It would have called for an unending flow of music, such as the twelve Cantatas on this disc that would have served as a part of regular services. Such was his importance that he had  his music published, which was, in itself, unusual at that time. Solo cantatas for up to four voices, rather than the larger choral forces, seem to have attracted him, and he was equally to use his cantatas to comment on a whole range of subjects, the present disc opening and closing on the philosophical subject of the fragility of life. The exact date of composition is unknown as they were published posthumously on the instigation of his brother. Sadly two of the opus number have had to be omitted as they would have exceeded the running time of a CD, and, though no explanation is offered, the indexed order has been changed. The American-based Consortium Carissimi do not make any claim to period authenticity, though the flexible sized ensemble use a group of period instruments in support of its singers. There are times when the music seems to have only recently been known to them—apparently they only give three public concerts annually—but they are sincerely presented, Linh Kauffman giving a particularly radient Generoso pensiero. Texts and English translations are available as a download from Naxos. © 2016...

Went to the jazz/baroque concert yesterday. Loved it.

see our blog post for the full review

Eight Motets of Carissimi Apr 24th / Apr 26th    

We came to the performance at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St. Paul. We were so grateful for the chance to hear such exquisite music. Just beautiful. Thank you! Thank you! We will be back. Drei schöne Ding sind

We heard you for the first time yesterday at Mount Olive. It was wonderful and we WILL be back!