“We have to accept that Monteverdi’s Marian Vespers will remain an enigma; this is something it shares with, for example, Bach’s Mass in B minor.” (Silke Leopold)

In 1610, Claudio Monteverdi compiled a monumental collection of liturgical music and published it with a dedication to Pope Paul V. According to Silke Leopold, these might be samples of his work intended to demonstrate that Monteverdi—who was already highly accomplished in the field of secular music—also sought to establish a reputation as a church musician in Rome. The publication offers everything a composer had to master at the beginning of the 17th century—the most sophisticated polyphony, liturgical functional music, polyphony in every conceivable variation, solo and concertante vocal music, and instrumental pieces of refined sound and impressive virtuosity.

“The title page of the 1610 publication explicitly states that these vocal concerti can also be sung outside of liturgical contexts, in princely living rooms and bedrooms. Monteverdi leaves open where his music belongs; he also leaves open how the music should be performed.” (Silke Leopold)

In Capella de la Torre’s performance, the focus is not limited to a specific instrumentation.  The sequence as preserved in print is also supplemented with instrumental pieces by the Italian-Jewish composer and Monteverdi student Salomone Rossi. A “Marian Vespers REVISITED,” created anew in this way in our time.

CONCERTS:
Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum
; Lübeck, St. Marien—Ton Koopman, conductor
; Berlin, St. Matthäuskirche at the Kulturforum