1612 - Italian Vespers

Following their recording of Striggio s Mass in 40 Parts from 1566, which racked up an astounding array of critical and commercial plaudits a Diapason d Or de l année, Gramophone s Early Music Award , UK Specialist Classical Charts, an entry in the UK pop charts Robert Hollingworth now takes his maverick ensemble I Fagiolini on a new journey unearthing incredible lost works from the late Renaissance and early Baroque: 1612

The title 1612 represents a year of momentous events: the death of the master of the Massive Baroque and most brilliant of Venetian multi-choir composers, Giovanni Gabrieli; and thereby the apex of the fashion of multi-choirs. 1612 also marks the publication of Viadana s collection of 4-choir Vesper Psalms, with a layout considerably more forward-looking than Monteverdi s psalms in his 1610 publication.

1612 presents the world premiere recordings of Viadana s Vesper Psalms and Gabrieli s 28-voice Magnificat, surrounded by lost treasures from the glorious period of multi-choir music

Revealing a majestic and intricate musical feast of kaleidoscopic colours for voices, brass, wind, strings, lutes and organs, Gabrieli s masterpiece has been painstakingly reconstructed by scholar Hugh Keyte to restore the glory of its original 7-choirs for this world-premiere recording

The recording recreates a thanksgiving Vesper in commemoration of the famous Venetian naval victory at Lepanto in 1571, celebrated for over 200 years after the event in a new festival The Feast of the Holy Rosary