Claudio Monteverdi's Selva morale e spirituale (Moral and Spiritual Forest, intriguingly) is not a work but a collection of sacred pieces published by the composer in 1641, his 74th year. The music reflects the later part of his career as music director at St. Mark's in Venice, which was not then a cathedral but the chapel associated with the nearby Doge's palace. Accordingly, it contains music in various genres: a mass in the old a cappella Renaissance style, motets, Magnificats, liturgical pieces, what would soon be ...
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Claudio Monteverdi's Selva morale e spirituale (Moral and Spiritual Forest, intriguingly) is not a work but a collection of sacred pieces published by the composer in 1641, his 74th year. The music reflects the later part of his career as music director at St. Mark's in Venice, which was not then a cathedral but the chapel associated with the nearby Doge's palace. Accordingly, it contains music in various genres: a mass in the old a cappella Renaissance style, motets, Magnificats, liturgical pieces, what would soon be called sacred solo concertos and madrigals, and more. The original ordering is unclear (the pieces might be loosely alphabetical, with the solo-vocal works broken out), and the British choir The Sixteen and conductor Harry Christophers have done well to mix the pieces up on their three-volume survey of set, of which this is the last volume. A good deal of the attraction of the music lies in its variety, and this volume includes everything from a superb dual-choir Magnificat (track 12), to...
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