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Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli
The story behind the composition of Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli is one of the most famous – and least proven – in music history. As the story goes, the liturgical politics of […]
Transcription and Analysis of Willaert’s Ave Maria
The period 1550-1560 was a one of incomparable prosperity for Venice and her merchants. The economic boom benefited the publishing sector, bringing a rapid increase in the number of printing businesses. This […]
Singing, In Style, Renaissance Vocal Music
Renaissance vocal music does not seem to be an integral and faithful derivation of polymnia, but rather appears to have progressed logically out of the medieval trends. More evolutionary than revolutionary, the […]
Colin Mawby and his World
One year ago the British composer and director Colin Mawby died at the age of 83…This is the interview that I did with him some years before the sad event. Colin Mawby […]
The Lady in Black
Bach’s Chaconne! I had been going crazy for hours on the keys of my Estonia 225 to try to refine the 94-96 bars, those where Busoni, reversing the melodic passage, divides the […]
Romuald Twardowski: When the new and the old become original
Romuald Twardowski was born in Vilnius in 1930. During years of occupation he studied the violin, after the war piano and organ. Between 1946-1950 he was an organist in various Vilnius churches. […]
The True History of the Vespers of the Blessed Virgin by Alessandro Grandi
It was May 2nd, 1630, early morning, when the telephone rang in my country house on the first hills of Rimini. That annoying sound took me unprepared … Who could have been […]
The Tempo in the Choral Music of the XVI Century
I would like to consider how tempo was written about in the XVI century and attempts to estimate the speed of the standard tempo that musicians thought of as unexceptional. The sources […]
Tõnu Kaljuste at the mirror
I met Tõnu Kaljuste in one of the best pizzerias in Rimini, where we had dinner together after spending a long, hard day at the Cesena Conservatory of Music, where, from February […]
Interview with Ēriks Esenvalds
AA: When did your career as a composer start? And later, in the course of your studies, did you realize that music was the path you would follow? EE: I was born […]
Pescespada Mediterraneo
Il pescespada del Mediterraneo è un pesce azzurro dal sapore abbastanza forte, basta però trovare la ricetta giusta per cucinarlo e renderlo molto delicato. Quella che vi propongo di seguito, fidatevi lo […]
Medieval and Renaissance Polyphony
In Medieval and Renaissance Polyphony falsetto singing played an important part, probably long before the technique was specifically described. Jerome of Moravia’s 13th-century treatise Discantus positio vulgaris mentions three voice registers: vox […]
Dossier on the Renaissance Choral Music
Dossier: The Renaissance in music occurred between 1450 and 1600. (Some historians place the beginning of the Renaissance as early as 1400.) As in the other arts, the horizons of music were greatly expanded. […]
The Twelve Old Modes
The first eight modes were designated in the medieval era, as a way to classify pre-existing Gregorian chants. The next four were added by Glareanus in 1547. This gave way to our […]
Italian Latin for choirs
Italian Latin for Choirs. The Latin language developed as one of the dialects of the Italian Peninsula, in the area around Rome, in pre-Classical times. The other “Italic” dialects died out, but […]
Singing together is a medicine for our heart
Whoever is part of a choir will probably know this already: singing together can be a positive experience, not only from a psychological point of view, but also from a physical one. […]
Performance Practice of the Renaissance Music
Basic Assumptions Not only one way to perform music of this period; much freedom is allowed. Little or no distinction is found between instrumental and vocal styles; they are usually interchangeable. Need […]
Falsettists, Castratos and Sopranos…
Falsettists, Castratos and Sopranos…The falsetto technique played a vital part in early polyphonic music, having appeared long before it was described in formal treatises or employed in Renaissance musical performances. As far […]
English Language / Opinions / Technique
G.P. Da Palestrina: Missa Brevis
The Missa Brevis first appeared in G.P. da Palestrina Third Book of Masses (1570) and in all probability was written about the year 1558. The thematic origin of this mass is not […]
Clemens: Ego flos campi!
Jacobus Clemens Non Papa’s Marian motet ‘Ego flos campi’ (I am the flower of the field) can confidently be dated to autumn 1550. Clemens was employed for a few months during the autumn of […]
RECENT UPDATE
Pescespada Mediterraneo
Il pescespada del Mediterraneo è un pesce azzurro dal sapore abbastanza forte, basta però trovare la ricetta giusta per cucinarlo e renderlo molto delicato. Quella che vi propongo di seguito, fidatevi lo […]
Singing, In Style, Renaissance Vocal Music
Renaissance vocal music does not seem to be an integral and faithful derivation of polymnia, but rather appears to have progressed logically out of the medieval trends. More evolutionary than revolutionary, the […]
Clemens: Ego flos campi!
Jacobus Clemens Non Papa’s Marian motet ‘Ego flos campi’ (I am the flower of the field) can confidently be dated to autumn 1550. Clemens was employed for a few months during the autumn of […]
Performance Practice of the Renaissance Music
Basic Assumptions Not only one way to perform music of this period; much freedom is allowed. Little or no distinction is found between instrumental and vocal styles; they are usually interchangeable. Need […]
MOST COMMENTED
English Language / Tecnica
Singing, In Style, Renaissance Vocal Music
Interviews
Colin Mawby and his World
English Language / Opinioni
The Lady in Black
English Language / Interviews
Romuald Twardowski: When the new and the old become original
English Language / Interviews
The True History of the Vespers of the Blessed Virgin by Alessandro Grandi
English Language / Technique
The Tempo in the Choral Music of the XVI Century
English Language / Interviews
Tõnu Kaljuste at the mirror