Mass for 5 voices, chorus, strings & continuo in G minor
Stabat Mater for 4 voices, chorus, strings & continuo in C minor
Antonio Maria Bononcini (1677-1726) is less well known than his father Giovanni Maria and brother Giovanni, but the works recorded here reveal a composer of substance and considerable interest. His Mass in G minor, in its premiere recording and first modern performance, is a real find. At the time of its composition, probably somewhere close to 1700, it would have been considered unconventional if not just plain odd, in the extent to which it incorporated an intensely contrapuntal Germanic style with Italianate lyricism. In ...
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Antonio Maria Bononcini (1677-1726) is less well known than his father Giovanni Maria and brother Giovanni, but the works recorded here reveal a composer of substance and considerable interest. His Mass in G minor, in its premiere recording and first modern performance, is a real find. At the time of its composition, probably somewhere close to 1700, it would have been considered unconventional if not just plain odd, in the extent to which it incorporated an intensely contrapuntal Germanic style with Italianate lyricism. In fact, Bononcini entirely dispensed with movements featuring vocal solos, the bread and butter of Baroque Italian liturgical music, in favor of elaborately contrapuntal interweaving of from two to five solo voices. There's nothing showy or academic about Bononcini's polyphonic writing in the Mass; the lines are supple and lyrically melodic. The result is gorgeously rich and shouldn't sound strange to modern ears. The album's eight soloists are all very fine, and several are...
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