Rovetta was overshadowed by Monteverdi, whose pupil he probably was, and whose influence shows in his music but sometimes you can hear a more distinctive voice as in both of his settings of the Salve regina. He wrote two of these the first of which the Salve regina of op.1 is a fine tenor duet written in the mid-1620s, it's an interesting piece characterised by by declamatory dialogue, brilliant counterpoint and striking changes of mood. Rovetta's second setting of the Salve regina which is the subject of this posting was published in Venice in 1647 in Motetti concertati, Op 10. Rovetta set it for countertenor, with two violins, two violas, bass violin, theorbo, and organ providing the very rich accompaniment. Apart from the fact that it's a nice setting it's of historical interest because Rovetta took the daring step of having the instruments accompany the voice as well as alternating with it. This may seem obvious to us now but in Venice in 1647 it was a very radical step to take. The result is very pleasing with rich musical textures thst complement and highlight the text being sung. It was a hit with his contemporaries – so much so that a version of it safely scrubbed of Marian sentiment for sensitive Lutheran ears appears in the musical records of the Royal Swedish Court and attributed (God knows why) to Franz Tunder. It's sung below by Robin Blaze accompanied by The Parley Of Instruments. Enjoy :-).
markfromireland
Click here to listen to the music and read the rest of the posting ...
Johann Kuhnau (1660–1722) is often dismissed by musicologists as a sort of footnote to Johann Sebastian Bach but this is a mistake. Bach was influenced – quite heavily influenced and in more ways than one, by Kuhnau who preceded him as Thomaskantor. To give but two examples, it was Kuhnau who collaborated with Bach in the latter's examination and certification of the Halle organ, and it was Kuhnau who inspired Bach in his choice of the title Clavier-Übung for four keyboard publications. He's of interest not only because he was a very talented composer in his own right, but also because his career represtents a bridge between Schütz and Bach. His motet 'Tristis est anima mea' (My soul is sorrowful) is interesting both because of it's extreme expressiveness and because it's a very good example of late orthodox Lutheran music. Most Lutheran thinkers weren't adverse to the traditional Latin texts or to the traditional church style it had its place but that place was no longer the pride of place. It's sung below by the King's Consort Choir conducted by Robert King. Enjoy :-).
Richard Davy is one of the most important composers represented in the Eton Choirbook where no less than nine compositions by him are to be found. It's thought that he came from Devon but of his early life nothing is known. The first reliable record of him is as a scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford in the early 1480s and then as sole organist and informator choristarum at Magdalen between 1491 and 1492. He's known to have left Magdalen by 1494 and in 1495 the college paid for the binding of a book containing his songs, masses and antiphons. Anything beyond that is speculation. Thus while he's probably the Richard Davy on record as having been at 
I suppose Schubert's 'Ständchen' is one of the most adapted, transcribed, translated, and sung pieces of music ever. Its melody so replete with longing and its telling switches of key, first as the lover becomes more impassioned, and then again as disillusion replaces hope is surely one of the most loved in the world. But to my mind it's rarely successfully sung by trebles. The reason for this is I think clear, it's unreasonable to expect a young boy or a boy at the start of his teens to empathise with or even understand the emotions evoked by Rellstab's poem. Happily there are exceptions to this and of them was the Belorussian Treble Sasha (Alexander) Cherkas who was fourteen at the time he recorded this very nuanced performance full of feeling and understanding without any sense of strain. Enjoy :-).
William Fuller was a royalist clergyman who had been deprived of his livelihood during the Commonwealth and who, following the Restoration was appointed to several Anglican church posts in Ireland he preferred England to Ireland and following a successful court intrigue was appointed Bishop of Lincoln. Purcell set four of his poems all of which were published in 1688 in Harmonia Sacra. 'How have I stray'd' is a devotional song written for private penitential use. Purcell's setting is full of delicate and subtle word-painting while the harmonisation at 'O most sweet, dear Jesu' is simply exquisite. The soul realises that only Jesus can help it escape from the labyrinth of sin into which it strayed:
