FULL SELVA MORALE E SPIRITUALE (Monteverdi) Tel Aviv 2018 The Israeli Voice Ensemble

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: SELVA MORALE E SPIRITUALE  
• Composer: Monteverdi Claudio   
• Libretto: various  
• Venue & Opera Company: Tel Aviv Museum, Israel  
• Recorded: December 28, 2018
• Type: Concert Live

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

Selva morale e spirituale (SV 252–288) is the short title of a collection of sacred music by the Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, published in Venice in 1640 and 1641. The title translates to “Moral and Spiritual Forest”.
The full title is: “Selva / Morale e Spirituale / di Clavdio Monteverde / Maestro di Capella della Serenissima / Republica Di Venetia / Dedicata / alla Sacra Cesarea Maesta dell’ Imperatrice / Eleonora / Gonzaga / Con Licenza de Superiori & Priuilegio. / In Venetia M DC X X X X / Appresso Bartolomeo Magni”.
History

Selva morale e spirituale was Monteverdi’s “most significant anthology of liturgical works since the Vespers in 1610”. The collection of various works in different instrumentation was published in Venice in 1640 and 1641. While the 1610 publication summarizes Monteverdi’s sacred works written for Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, Selva morale e spirituale presents works composed at San Marco, Venice, where Monteverdi had served since 1613. The collection was dedicated to Eleonora Gonzaga and published by Bartolomeo Magni. The date in the original title is 1640, but the process of publishing lasted until 1641.[2] The edition is considered Monteverdi’s testament of church music, compiled when he was already 74 years old.[5]
Content

The collection contains various forms of sacred music, from madrigals in Italian to a complete mass, the instrumentation varying between a single voice to eight voices with instruments:

The first three works are moral madrigals on poems in Italian by Francesco Petrarca and Angelo Grillo.
The mass, Messa à 4 da capella, is set in stile antico (old style) for four voices and basso continuo. It is complemented by a seven-part Gloria à 7 in stile concertato, and separate parts of the Credo, such as Crucifixus, Et resurrexit and Et iterum.
A prominent feature of the anthology is psalms compositions, especially the ones used regularly for a vespers service such as Dixit Dominus (Psalm 110 in Hebrew numbering, Psalm 109 in Vulgate numbering), Confitebor tibi Domine (Psalm 111), Beatus Vir (Psalm 112), Laudate pueri Dominum (Psalm 113) and Laudate Dominum (Psalm 117), most of them in various settings.
The collection also contains settings of Marian hymns such as the Magnificat in two versions, and three settings of Salve Regina. The last section contains motets for a single voice.

Quoted from Wikipedia

The collection Moral and Spiritual Forest, an extensive and rich masterpiece by Claudio Monteverdi, was published in 1641, two years before his death. This is the most important anthology since his Vespers of 1610. This vast collection includes several madrigals to texts by poets Petrarch and Grillo but mostly religious works – Masses, Magnificats, Motets and Psalms – all written during Monteverdi’s 30 years as music director and conductor of the Church of San Marco in Venice. Monteverdi’s genius, versatility, innovation and penchant for drama — are all reflected in the wonderful, varied music in this collection. The great diversity is also expressed in the ensembles for which the works were written, from a single voice to 8 voices, from a-cappella works to works accompanied by rich instruments. Also included in program instrumental music by Monteverdi’s contemporaries.

Program: 

Beatus Vir primo (from Selva Morale e Spirituale)
Tutti and Soloists: Noam Avidan, Taliya Dishon, Hadas Dahari, Yonathan Suissa, Daniel Portnoy, Roy Fridman
Text:  Psalms 112

Confitebor terzo (from Selva Morale e Spirituale)
Tutti and Soloists: Noam Avidan, Nava Sahar

Crucifixus (from Selva Morale e Spirituale)
Ensemble: Era Givoni, Tamar Landsberg, Gabriel Goler,
Ori Batchko, Yonathan Suissa, Moshe Hass, Daniel Portnoy,
Oded Amir, Yoav Essing, Joel Sivan, Roy Fridman, Ronen Ravid

Text: from the Credo

~Instrumental Interlude
Marco Uccellini: Aria Quinta: Sopra la Bergamasca

 Players: Barrocade Soloists

Sestina: Lagrime d’amante al sepolcro dell’amata
(SV 111, from the Sixth Book of Madrigals)
Choir preparation: Joel Sivan
Text: Scipione Agnelli (1586-1653)

~Instrumental Interlude
Dario Castello: Sonata Concertante in stil moderno
Players: Barrocade Soloists

Voi ch’ascoltate (from Selva Morale e Spirituale)
Soloists: Avivit Hochstadter,   Yonathan Suissa,
Daniel Portnoy, Ori Batchko,  Roy Fridman
Text: Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374)

È questa Vita un lampo (from Selva Morale e Spirituale)
Soloists: Taliya Dishon,  Nava Sahar, Hadas Dahari, Oded Amir, Ronen Ravid
Text: Angelo Grillo (1557–1629)

~Instrumental Interlude
Giovanni Paolo Cima: Sonata á tre

Players: Barrocade Soloists

“Adoramus Te” (SV 289)
Text: from the Catholic tradition

Laudate Dominum Primo (from Selva Morale e Spirituale)
Tutti and Soloists: Noam Avidan, Avivit Hochstadter,
Yonathan Suissa, Daniel Portnoy,  Joel Sivan
Text: Psalms 117

Dixit Dominus Secondo (from Selva Morale e Spirituale)

Tutti and Soloists: Maria Liyubman, Naomi Brill-Engel,
Idit Magal, Tamar Landsberg, Ori Batchko, Daniel Portnoy,
Roy Fridman, Ronen Ravid
Text: Psalms 110

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