Harmonies of Devotion Contrapunctus & Owen Rees

• Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643): Cantate Domino:
• 1 Monteverdi: Cantate Domino 02:06
• Giovanni Legrenzi (1626 - 1690): Salve regina:
• 2 Legrenzi: Salve regina 06:37
• Intret in conspectu tuo:
• 3 Legrenzi: Intret in conspectu tuo 10:23
• Claudio Monteverdi: Adoramus te Christe:
• 4 Monteverdi: Adoramus te Christe 04:44
• Antonio Lotti (1667 - 1740): Crucifixus a 5:
• 5 Lotti: Crucifixus a 5 03:22
• Giovanni Paolo Colonna (1637 - 1695): Victimae paschali laudes:
• 6 Colonna: Victimae paschali laudes 03:10
• Agostino Steffani (1654 - 1728): Qui diligit Mariam:
• 7 Steffani: Qui diligit Mariam 10:41
• Claudio Monteverdi: Domine, ne in furore tuo:
• 8 Monteverdi: Domine, ne in furore tuo 03:36
• Quam amarum est Maria:
• 9 Legrenzi: Quam amarum est Maria 05:58
• Antonio Lotti: Crucifixus a 8:
• 10 Lotti: Crucifixus a 8 03:40
• Claudio Monteverdi: Christe adoramus te:
• 11 Monteverdi: Christe adoramus te 02:59
• Giovanni Legrenzi: Converte nos Deus:
• 12 Legrenzi: Converte nos Deus 03:07
• Ercole Bernabei (1622 - 1687): Tribulationes cordis mei:
• 13 Bernabei: Tribulationes cordis mei 07:40
• Giovanni Legrenzi: Ave regina cælorum:
• 14 Legrenzi: Ave regina cælorum 02:59
• Total Runtime 01:11:02

Info for Harmonies of Devotion

Harmonies of Devotion is both an exploration of the Italian motet repertory of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries and a celebration of the devotion to this sacred repertory displayed by English antiquarian collectors of the eighteenth century. Among the works recorded here for the first time are Giovanni Legrenzi’s six-voice masterpiece Intret in conspectu tuo, which survives thanks to a copy made in London by Handel, a five-voice Crucifixus by Legrenzi’s pupil Antonio Lotti, sent to London’s newly formed Academy of Ancient Music, a grand Marian motet written for the Academy by Agostino Steffani, and music by Steffani’s teacher Ercole Bernabei, again collected by members of London’s antiquarian music clubs. The recording reveals lines of influence between teachers and pupils, and traces the lineage of the dramatic seconda prattica motet back to its principal source and pioneer: Monteverdi.

Contrapunctusir
Owen Rees, conductor

Contrapunctus
Coupling powerful interpretations with path-breaking scholarship, Contrapunctus presents music by the best known composers as well as unfamiliar masterpieces. The group’s repertoire is drawn from England, the Low Countries, Spain, Portugal and Germany, particularly in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The scholarly facet of the group’s work – including the discovery of long-lost music and reconstructions of original performing contexts – allows audiences to experience the first performances of many works in modern times. Since its foundation in 2010, the group has appeared in many of the world's most prominent music festivals – the Utrecht Early Music Festival, the AMUZ Festival in Antwerp, the Festival van Vlaanderen in Mechelen, the Eboræ Musica Festival and Setúbal Festival in Portugal, the concert series at De Bijloke in Ghent, and in the Martin Randall Festival of Spanish Music (Seville Cathedral), and alongside the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Contrapunctus is Vocal Consort in Residence at the University of Oxford. The group's debut disc 'Libera nos: The Cry of the Oppressed' was released on the Signum Label in 2013 and was shortlisted for the Gramophone Early Music Award 2014. Contrapunctus' next recording project centres on the Baldwin Tudor Partbooks. A series of discs on the Signum label will present music from these partbooks. The first album 'In the Midst of Life' featuring motets on the theme of mortality, was released in February 2015 to great critical acclaim. It was shortlisted for the Gramophone Early Music Award 2015, named Album of the Week in The Sunday Times, The Week, and on BBC Radio 3 CD Review. It was Editor's Choice in Gramophone and Choral and Song Choice in BBC Music Magazine.

Booklet for Harmonies of Devotion