SALVOLINI, Alessandro (c.1700-c.1770) - Missa Brevis

Obra de Fedele Fischetti (1732-1792), pintor italià (1)

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Parlem de Pintura...

Fedele Fischetti (Napoli, 30 de març de 1732 - Napoli, 25 de gener de 1792) va ser un pintor italià. Es coneixen pocs detalls de la seva vida. Es creu que es va especialitzar en frescs que va realitzar en diverses esglésies, palaus i cases de Nàpols i el seu entorn. També va realitzar obres seculars, com una sèrie de les 'Estacions'. Va treballar com a professor amb alumnes com Paolo Girgenti i Giuseppe Camerata. Va morir a Nàpols el gener de 1792.

Font: En català: No disponible - En castellano: No disponible - In english: Fedele Fischetti (1732-1792) - Altres: Fedele Fischetti (1732-1792)

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Parlem de Música...

Alessandro Salvolini (c.1700 - Ravenna?, c.1770) va ser un director i compositor italià. Es va formar al cor de la Basílica de Sant Francesc d'Assís sota la direcció de Bohuslav Czernohorsky. Poc després va procurar accedir a un càrrec d'organista de la Basílica del Santo de Pàdua, lloc que no va assolir. Des d'allà va viatjar a Ravenna on apareix documentat el 1723 en què se'l cita com a compositor, director i organitzador de festes musicals de la ciutat de Ravenna en un càrrec que va desenvolupar fins el 1760 conjuntament amb el càrrec de mestre de capella de la Cattedrale metropolitana della Risurrezione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo de la mateixa ciutat. Hi ha constància documentada que la seva producció va ser ingent deixant centenars de manuscrits si bé la majoria d'ells es van perdre amb el pas del temps. El seu repertori, principalment religiós, va incloure desenes d'oratoris, misses, cantates i altres obres menors tals com himnes, salms, motets, etc. Tot i no existir cap document que ho acrediti, es probable que Salvolini morís a Ravenna a l'entorn del 1770.

Font: En català: No disponible - En castellano: No disponible - In english: Alessandro Salvolini (c.1700-c.1770) - Altres: No disponible

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Parlem en veu pròpia o en veu d'altri...

These masses and motets embrace quite a variety of styles. If, on the one hand, the former testify to the composer’s contrapuntal training, there emerges in the hymns and motets, on the other hand, his familiarity with more “worldly” genres, and they feature stylistic elements which at times might even be called “gallant”. Such different stylistic models are perfectly comprehensible in the eighte- enth century, a period which had thoroughly assimilated the theoretical division of styles laid out in the treatises of the late seventeenth century. The Stylus ecclesiasticus, polyphonic and rigorous, and championed by Palestrina, was distinguished from both a theatrical style and a “chamber” style. The latter came to include the concerted motets for a small number of voices, where polyphony gave way to homophonic writing and experimentation with timbres and vocal virtuosity. Ravenna had a long and solid polyphonic tradition which began with the period under Costanzo Porta at the end of the sixteenth century and continued with the performances of the Cappella Metropolitana. These perfor- mances did not foresee the presence of instruments other than the organ, and the polyphonic works of the late sixteenth-century masters were often presented. The masses of Salvolini, including above all Missa defunctorum, a particularly elaborate and complex work, adapted the rules and characteristics of the contrapuntal school to the modern harmonic sensibilities: the result on the whole was light and airy. The stylistic devices employed in order to create variety include the use of the voices in alternating duets, or the grouping together of three low or three high voices, immediately followed by a tutti response. In the longer pieces, such as the Credo and Gloria, sections in ternary meter often appear, usually associated with parts of the text communicating “positive” sentiments, thus breaking up the constant duple meter in common or cut time. 

Despite the unvaried tactus within every piece of the mass (excluding the binary-ternary variations mentioned above), a certain variety of tempos have been employed in the performances heard here. These changes in tempo are suggested by the late date of the composition and the presence of certain indications in the text (adagio, allegro), which seem to imply a modulated rather than mechanical pulse in accordance with the musical expression. The motets are an entirely different matter. The more or less extended solo sections reveal a taste for cantabile writing, melodic line and monodic expressivity, all of which are absent from the masses. Particularly characteristic are the duets, where classic progressions by parallel thirds and sixths alter- nate with sections in dialogue. In the tutti sections, on the other hand, homophonic writing predomi- nates, dictated by the very quick and captivatingly rhythmic declamation of the text. The instrumentation adopted here deserves a separate discussion. On this recording, we have used only two violins and a cello rather than a string quartet. In the late eighteenth century, sacred music no longer required that clarity of contrapuntal texture which the sixteenth and a good part of the seventeenth centuries considered indispensable. Experimentation with sonorities tended, instead, toward underlining contrasts in timbre, and emphasizing the lower or upper parts. Thus, in many balance sheets and expense records concerning musicians employed for particular occasions (concerts or celebrations), we find indications for one or two violins, a cello and a violone, but not a viola. This latter instrument only appeared at especially important events which would have allowed for more sumptuous and therefore more costly forces. 

Maria Luisa Baldassari (booklet notes)

Gaudiu i compartiu! 

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Informació addicional... 

INTERPRETS: Marina Scaioli (organ); I Luoghi dello Spirito; Maria Luisa Baldassari
TACTUS: ALESSANDRO SALVOLINI - Missa Defunctorum, Missa brevis, Missa in D & Sacred Works

IMSLP: No disponible

CPDL: No disponible

SPOTIFY: SALVOLINI, A. - Masses, Motets & Hymns



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