Baldassarre

Galuppi
S a cred M usic

I nvern i zz i ♦ B a s so
Adam ♦ Foresti
G h i s l i e r i
C hoir & C onsort
Giulio Prandi

ROM CONTENTS
NOTES ON GALUPPI’S LITURGICAL MUSIC
Baldassarre Galuppi (Burano, Venice 1706 - Venice, 1785) was one of the most highly respected composers of the eighteenth century not
only in his native city but in the rest of Italy and indeed throughout Europe. The historian Charles Burney was not the only person who
thought so and his judgement is confirmed by Galuppi’s more than fifty years of creative activity, from his operatic debut in 1722 till 1782
and his oratorio-cantata, Il ritorno di Tobia, the last work he wrote. Buranello – so-called from his birth-place, Burano – began his career
writing operas and for many years was under contract to many of the more important cultural venues of the time: Venice itself, Turin,
Milan, Rome, Naples, Bologna and Parma, in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, London, Vienna, Madrid and St. Petersburg. He was directly
involved in some hundred different operatic ventures. His reputation though was by no means limited to such serious compositions.
He was a pioneer, the first to elaborate techniques that would subsequently become part and parcel of comic opera, the “opera buffa”.
The earliest examples of brilliant “finali concertati in drammi giocosi” are his creation, many of them based on librettos by Carlo Goldoni.
Performed in Italy and elsewhere in Europe and include – to name but a few – L’Arcadia in Brenta, Il mondo alla roversa, Il filosofo di
campagna, Il mondo della luna, Le nozze, Il conte Caramella.
Author of an important and impressive catalogue of instrumental music (more than 130 keyboard sonatas, collections of symphonies and
sonatas published in London rather then in Leipzig, etc.), from the 1740s Galuppi was appointed to important positions in the Foundling
Hospitals and other Foundations devoted to the promotion of music in Venice. He was at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti (from 1740 until
1751), subsequently at the Ospedale degli Incurabili and at the Chapel of St. Mark where from 1748 he was Vice-Maestro and, from 1762
till 1780, Maestro di Cappella. To form some idea of the fortune of his vast and original oratorial output (some thirty works) we might at
least make mention of the triumphant success which greeted his Tres pueri hebraei in captivitate Babylonis. Francesco Caffi in his “Storia
della musica sacra nella già Cappella Ducale di San Marco in Venezia” (Venice, 1854, I, pp. 396-397) tells us that he work, first performed
in 1774 at the Incurabili, was accorded thereafter some hundred performances.
His musics destined to accompany liturgical functions are no less creative; he wrote not only for the Catholic, but also at St. Petersburg
for the Russian Orthodox Church. In interpreting such sacred texts he employs contrapuntal structures for the most part canonical; here
his melodic construction is typically rococo in style as against the stylemes of a more operistic language which is more consonant to the
coloratura of the soloists. He respects the rhetorical conventions of musical phraseology (single lemmi such as surget or ascendit rather
than more complex linguistic units) and such formal devices as were traditionally linked, at least in part, to settings of texts destined for
the liturgy, either employing the orchestra as a solid support or reinforcing the sense of what the voices state explicitly. Galuppi employs
a range of compositive solutions which mark him out as a master composer, of great refinement and in pace with the times. Even when
he composes works destined to find a place in church services he does not lose sight of a cultural climate which in 1781 in Venice had
accorded an overwhelming success to Giuseppe Sarti’s Giulio Sabino.
The Programme of this Compact Disc offers a representative selection of Galuppi’s sacred music from his magnificent Kyrie of 1746
(reelaborated circa 1782 to judge from the non-autograph date on the binding) to the Credo of 1781 by way of the Nisi Dominus (1777)
and the Gloria (1779). The undated Dixit Dominus has come down to us in a copy almost certainly made in German-speaking Central
Europe (given the type of paper used and certain idiosincracies of the language).
Although they cannot be referred with any degree of certainty specific liturgical occasions, the compositions relative to the mass were
undoubtedly written for the Saint Mark’s Chapel where the Kyrie itself may well have been performed. It is specifically stated hawever that
the Gloria was written “per la Cappella Ducale di San Marco”, adding in a note “in palchetto”, a specification which also accompanies
several arias of the Credo. The reference must be to the “palchetto” in which, as the historian of Saint Mark’s Francesco Caffi tells us, a
third “organetto” had been built by Callido in 1767. It was in this loft that the soloists sang their “motetti”. It is not known where the
Psalms were to be performed.
The dramatic first section of the Kyrie breve in G minor creates a climate in which the musical symbolism of suffering is suggested by
means of a series of skilful harmonic shifts, seconded by the fascinating melodic interaction of the violins. The second part is contrapuntal
in construction, austere and canonical, in perfect synthesis emotionally with the work as a whole.
The Gloria a 4 concertato in C major is a solidly based formal structure of seven movements: two choruses with concertanti sections
(an initial festive Gloria with its elaborate orchestration and a very beautiful and splendidly dramatic Qui tollis), a brilliantly conceived
movement in double counterpoint for the four soloists contrived with the utmost refinement over a repeated rhythmic beat (Gratias
agimus tibi), three solo arias (the graceful Domine Deus for tenor, the gentle Qui sedes for contralto and, for the soprano, Quoniam
tu solus, which repeats thematic material from the opening Gloria). The work ends with an admirably constructed choral fugue (Cum
Sancto Spiritu).
The succession of these movements has been planned in a masterly fashion, an interplay of light and shade, variety within continuity, an

1
alternation of expressive climates accompanied by the elegance of the harmonic solutions which give expression to the words of the text.
Formal coherence is assured, not only by the tonal pattern of successive movements (C major, F major, B flat major, G minor, c minor, E
flat major, B flat major, G major, C major) but also by repetition of the initial thematic sections.
The Credo a 4 concertato in C major is made up of three sections: two choruses with harmonized “concertanti”, which (from Et
incarnatus to sepultus est) flank a fascinating accompanied recitative for the soprano. This is followed by a chorus, a striking “sotto voce”
rendering of the Crucifixus. The choices effected in this section aim at sobriety and refinement of expression. When the text describes the
passion and death of Christ, the instrumental part is played “sotto voce” while the choir sings “mezza voce”. The movements which open
and close the work are characterized by an insistent circular melodic and harmonic four-bar device which, while imposing coherence, is
intended to suggest the sincerity of a firmly held faith of which it is the expression: this in line with a well established musical tradition to
be found, for example, in the Masses of Haydn. Among such vocal interludes the rendering of the verbal text is closely linked to the sense;
brevity which will eschew any idea of a fugato (or fugue) although a finale of this kind was typical of so many compositions of the period.
The Nisi Dominus in F major for three voices, strings and continuo is made up of six successive movements, as the Gloria, and here the
interplay is intentional. In addition to the two terzetti, which in opening and closing the Psalm elaborate the same material, an elegant
duet for soprano and contralto, and three arias. They give evidence of Buranello’s ability to construct in the slow movements, radiant
melodic lines, such as those of the elegantly fluent duet which lend itself to singing. Particularly striking the serene and airy Gloria Patri
for the alto which might well be taken as the transfiguration in terms of music of the paintings of Giovan Battista Tiepolo or Francesco
Fontebasso which, following in the footsteps of Andrea Pozzo, employ the softest of pastels to depict the glory of Paradise.
In the Dixit Dominus for choir, soloists, strings and continuo in G minor, the scintillating opening chorus - it will in part return to conclude
the work - is followed by a highly original aria for alto and chorus in which effects of echo and dialogue take turns (Juravit Dominus),
a contrapuntal movement (Tu es sacerdos) in which the two soloists alternate with the chorus backed by the melodic repetition of the
strings which here too amplify the sense. De torrente is a moving aria for the soprano. The chromatic choral introduction to the last
movement is an harmonic sequence that, carried to its extreme consequences, will be widely adopted in the following century down to
the Mefistofele of Boito, where (and it is no accident) it is placed to render the transfiguring ascent of angelic choirs which hark back to
the well-known prologue in heaven).

GIOVANNI POLIN

2
BIOGRAPHIES
Roberta Invernizzi
Roberta Invernizzi is one of the most sought after soloists in the field of baroque and classical music. She has sung in many of the most
important theatres in Europe and in the United States (Teatro alla Scala, Teatro San Carlo, Teatro Real of Madrid, Wiener Musikverein,
Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Salzburg Festival, ecc.), working with conductors such as Harnoncourt, Bolton, Koopman, Leonhardt,
Brüggen, Savall, Curtis, Antonini, Biondi, Florio, Alessandrini, Dantone, collaborating regularly with all the most important ensembles in
the field of ancient music. Her performances include: Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and L’Orfeo; Händel’s Rinaldo; Aci, Galatea
e Polifemo; Agrippina and Il Trionfo del Tempo; Scarlatti’s La Santissima Trinità and La Vergine dei Dolori; Leo’s Sant’Elena al Calvario di
Leo; Galuppi’s L’Olimpiade, Cavalli’s Ercole sul Termodonte, Virtù degli Strali d’Amore and La Statira; Mozart’s C Minor Mass and Davide
Penitente. Roberta Invernizzi has made over 70 recordings with all the most important labels and many have been recognized by the
musical press with Diapason D’Or de l’année, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Midem, Händel Stanley Prize and Grammophone Awards.

Romina Basso
Born in Gorizia, Romina Basso performs regularly in the most prestigious concert halls in Europe (Accademia of Santa Cecilia, Accademia
Chigiana, Wiener Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Citè de la Musique, Theatre des Champs Elysées, Utrecht and Bruges Early
Music Festivals, Opera Rara and Mysteria Paschalia Festivals of Krakow...) collaborating with most famous classical and baroque ensembles.
She has sung with prominent conductors: Maag, Mackerras, Jurowski, Savall, Bruggen, Curtis, Alessandrini, Biondi, Minkowski, Christie,
Haim, McCreesh, Marcon, Sardelli, Bianchini, Dantone, Ferro e Gatti. Romina Basso recorded for Deutsche Grammophon-Archiv Vivaldi’s
Motezuma and Händel’s Tolomeo, for Naive Classique Vivaldi’s Atenaide, New Discoveries and Armida, for Glossa Händel’s Cantate
Italiane voll.4-5 for EMI Vivaldi’s Ercole sul Termodonte, for MDG Giulio Cesare and for Virgin Händel’s Berenice.

Krystian Adam
Born in Poland, he studied voice at the Music Academy in Wroclaw and at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan. After his début in Rossini’s
Il Barbiere di Siviglia, he sang for important musical institutions, in Italy and Europe, working with conductors such Antonini, Fasolis,
Alessandrini, Ghielmi, Adamus, Bonizzoni, Sardelli. His opera’s performances include Stradella’s La Passione, Piccinni’s Il Finto Turco,
Gluck’s Le Cinesi, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Händel’s Ariodante, Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, Israele in Egitto and Rodelinda,
Vivaldi’s Griselda, Salieri’s Il Mondo alla Rovescia, Bach’s Matthäus-Passion. In the contemporary repertoire he sang at the Teatro alla
Scala in Fabio Vacchi’s Teneke under the conduction of R. Abbado. He recorded Pergolesi’s Dixit Dominus for the Deutsche Grammophon
with Claudio Abbado.

Sergio Foresti
Sergio Foresti is one of Italy’s finest baritones and enjoys an international career. He distinguishes himself especially in Baroque music
and has made his debut in principal Mozartian roles. His vast repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to Čajkovskij. Besides an intense
collaboration with Alessandrini and his ensemble Concerto Italiano, he works regularly with conductors like Biondi, Clemencic, Jacobs,
Sardelli, Antonini, Savall, Gatti, performing in the most important festivals and theatres in Italy and in Europe with leading ensembles.
He also works with famous directors like Ronconi, Servillo and Wilson.
His recordings include La clemenza di Tito (Publio) under Jacobs for Harmonia Mundi France, winner of the Grammy Award 2006 (Best
Classical Album), and the Vivaldi operas L’Olimpiade (Alcandro) Arsilda Regina di Ponto (Cisardo) and Tito Manlio (title role). In 2009
Sergio was chosen by the Spanish film director Carlos Saura for the role of Leporello in his movie Io, Don Giovanni.

3
Giulio Prandi
Born in 1977, Giulio Prandi studied conducting with Donato Renzetti. Trained as a singer, he took a Degree in Mathematics at the
University of Pavia. He went on to study composition with Bruno Zanolini and choral music with Domenico Zingaro in the Conservatory
of Milan.
He is the Director of Music of Pavia’s Collegio Ghislieri and founder of the baroque ensemble Ghislieri Choir & Consort. He has collaborated
with such important institutions as the Accademia Chigiana of Siena, the Teatro Carlo Felice of Genua, AsLiCo, the Stresa Festival, the
Festival MiTo. He is Director of the Circuito Lombardo di Musica Antica.
He is actively involved in the rediscovery of rare or unpublished compositions in the repertoire of eighteenth-century Italian sacred music.
In the field of contemporary music he worked with the Strumentalisti del Teatro della Scala in Milan and with the composer Fabio Vacchi.

Ghislieri Choir & Consort

The result of an association of Giulio Prandi, Maria Cecilia Farina, Marco Bianchi and Alberto Guerrero, Ghislieri Choir & Consort is made
up of some of the most highly skilled baroque singers and instrumentalists in Italy. While they perform works long established in the
repertoire, they pay particular attention to the rediscovery of works of eighteenth-century Italian sacred music, works rare or unpublished
by such composers as Galuppi, Perti, Leo, D’Astorga, Piatti, Durante, Traetta. Ghislieri Choir & Consort have been invited to important
international Festivals where they have rapidly established themselves as one of the most promising of such groups in Italy.
In 2009 they recorded a CD devoted entirely to the compositions of Giacomo Antonio Perti (Bologna, 1661-1756). This was published in
its May 2010 number by the magazine Amadeus.
The ensemble of Collegio Ghislieri is also involved in the activities of the Circuito Lombardo di Musica Antica. From 2010 the Ghislieri
Choir & Consort have undertaken an important recording programme in collaboration with Sony-Deutsche Harmonia Mundi devoted to
the Italian Sacred Music of eighteenth-century.

4
COLLEGIO GHISLIERI
Collegio Ghislieri was founded by Pope Pius V in 1567 and has always been a moving force in the intellectual and cultural field. Its
distinctive contribution has subsequently been recognized as such by the Ministries responsible for Education and for Academic Research.
Undergraduates are admitted to Ghislieri on the basis of selective entrance examinations and, although they follow Courses in the
University, the College itself affords them a whole range of initiatives designed to promote a more complex and mature overall approach
in a variety of fields.
In the course of its long history, the College Library has brought together some 130.000 volumes. These are available to undergraduates,
who are also encouraged to follow a varied calendar of intramural Seminars and Lectures. Scholarships and International Exchanges
encourage to study abroad and the College itself has close links with a number of equally prestigious academic institutions in other
countries.
College Ghislieri hosts Master Classes organized by the University Institute for Further Studies, while the University, with the Bocconi
University of Milan, is responsible for Specialized Courses in various sectors of the Law. The Centre for Communication and Research
has entrusted to the College its Courses, recognized by the University. The College further supports highly specialized Courses in the
biomedical sector.
The decision to support classical music, a relatively new sector for the College, is perfectly coherent with its other earlier initiatives. The
Concerts the College organizes are open to all, town and gown, in the belief that artistic and cultural achievements of this order should be
available to as wide an audience as possible.

5
 DIXIT DOMINUS
A psalm of David.
The LORD says to you, my lord:
“Take your throne at my righthand, while I make your enemies your footstool.”
The scepter of your sovereign might the LORD will extend from Zion. The LORD says: “Rule over your enemies!
Yours is princely power from the day of your birth. In holy splendor before the daystar, like the dew I begot you.”
The LORD has sworn and will not waver: “Like Melchizedek you are a priest forever.”
At your right hand is the Lord, who crushes kings on the day of wrath,
Who, robed in splendor, judges nations, crushes heads across the wide earth,
Who drinks from the brook by the wayside and thus holds high the head.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.

NISI DOMINUS
A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless the LORD build the house, they labor in vain who build. Unless the LORD guard the city, in vain does the guard keep watch.
It is vain for you to rise early and put off your rest at night, To eat bread earned by hard toil-- all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.
Children too are a gift from the LORD, the fruit of the womb, a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children born in one’s youth.
Blessed are they whose quivers are full. They will never be shamed contending with foes at the gate.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.

KYRIE
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord have mercy

6
 GLORIA
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.

7
 CREDO
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.