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The Discography of the Choir

The Polyphonic Group “Claudio Monteverdi” has a wide list of publications, from CDs to scores of traditional Friulan songs.

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Laudate Dominum

New chapter devoted to sacred music of the Polyphonic Group Claudio Monteverdi . Under the guidance of Matjaž Šček for the first time the chorus of Ruda ( UD ) proposes a combined choice of authors from the sixteenth century to the present that have as common denominator in the sacred music . Different , and seemingly distant provenances historical, geographical , language of the authors , significantly interesting the presence of the classical tradition with new compositions by contemporary authors . With music by Marjan Gradodolnik (1967 ) , Francis Bark ( 1502-1571 ) , Giovanni Battista Candotti ( 1809-1876 ) , Marco Maiero (1956 ) , Claude - Michel Schönberg (1944 ) , Cecilia Seghizzi (1908 ) , Miran Rustja (1957 ) .
InCanto

The new discographic success of the Polyphonic Group “Claudio Monteverdi” – “InCanto”: examples of poetry and music in Friuli and Trieste between 1800’s and 1900’s – it represents a unitary monographic character, both for the geographic choice as well as for the musical and cultural one, coherently with the previous works of the Friulan group. Composers and poets belonging to different generations, but connected in a way, are following one another in a freely thematic order throughout the 14 tracks of this CD. The Friulan language of yesterday and today, the uniquely original poetic language of Biagio Marin, the dialect of Trieste (almost disappeared), the decadent and poetic Italian of Marcello Fraulini, are made in music by authors of different and distant sensibilities, but for a magic “charm”, are converging into a common and recognisable choral sonority.

From the modest brio of “No scherzo” by Augusto Cesare Seghizzi (1873-1933), dean of the choral composers in Friuli, we arrive to the loving intensity, contrasting with the easiness of the father’s track, with “Agnul Mio” by Cecilia Seghizzi Campolieti (1908-). A classic song of the Friulan tradition, the naturalistic “Gnot d’avril”, written by Arturo Zardini (1869-1923), harmonized by Orlando Dipiazza (1929-), precedes “Ninna Nanna Gradese”, gently dandling with its barcarola rhythm, which finds in Giulio Viozzi’s (1912-1984) linear and expressive music and in Biagio Marin’s (1891-1985) powerful lines a perfect synthesis of poetic intentions.

Nature is again the narrative contest for Cecilia Seghizzi in “A mi baste un fil di lune”, transforming into music the inspired text by Novella Cantarutti. The old traditional Friulan melody “A planc cale il soreli” finds in the writing and elaboration by O. Dipiazza a preciousness making it even more deep and intense, while “Tramonto sul mar”, written by Antonio Illersberg (1882-1953) based on a text by Alma Sperante (pseudonym for Carlo Mioni), with a free use of a rondo form presents a small and touching idyll of the “upper Adriatic”.

Again follows a piece by Cecilia Seghizzi who, using the both powerful and delicate text by Biagio Marin, is the author of “Lune”, small and concise “mariner-like” and sentimental piece, pervaded by the crepuscular light of Grado’s lagoon.

A gentle prayer and a touching wish-well for his little nephew, putting together narrative and naïve flashbacks, but yet sincere, and a stream of consciousness is “La mia stella”, written by Antonio Illersberg based on a text by Marcello Fraulini, author of the masterpiece “Dolina”, homage to the Carso area so much loved, for the hedonistic and private aspects of an author like Mario Bugamelli (1905-1978).

Another tribute to the intense and sometimes painful love singing is yet again offered by the delicate “No sta vaì, bambine”, which Seghizzi Sr. realizes with absolute sentimental participation using, with harmonic efficiency, the “speechless” choir, upon which stands the tenor’s soloist voice. A more relaxed atmosphere of the love games can be detected “ex abrupto” at the very beginning with the “Il troi”, composed by Dipiazza based on verses by Pieri Someda de Marco, while in “La sere”, based on a text by Pieri Matie, the most recent piece on this anthology, the musician and conductor of the Friulan choir presents the crepuscule of a day and the need of quietness and love, old and indispensable values of a sincere and simple human population.

The CD ends with the elaboration of a traditional song, “Troi de braide”, another piece by O. Dipiazza , with a brilliant and gay character, transcripted with deep knowledge.
A suitable way, according to our opinion, to end our discographic proposal, even if not so complete, but yet panoramic on the traditional author music and on the fruitful collaborations between artists of our land.
The sacred Friuli between '800 and '900

The millenary link of a culture like the Friulan one with the sacred, can be recognised as true vocation coming from the ancient rituals of the Gallo-Carni and the liturgical singing of the church of Aquileia.

The wide compositive production by Jacopo Tomadini finds in the mottoes for male choir a style apex universally recognised, particularly in the “Anima Christi”.

Motto – cantata developed in five sections divided by a wide cadenza of the harp, in which the choir has the antiphonal function with respect to the soloist, of whom it amplifies the thematic hints.
The elimination of the iomonium’s part and the exaltation of the harp, obeys to Stefano Sacher’s revisions to free Tomadini’s music from lithurgic finalities, to give it concert dignity.

The artistic testimony of Albino Perosa (1915-1997) can be considered equal to the one of Tomadini.

To this Mess, Perosa wanted to give a title evocating magical rituals, Messe patriarchine.

With Albino Perosa, the priest-musician category in the Friulan region can be considered closed, but hopefully the younger generations of Friulan composers are still interested in the choral music, which they feel deeply connected with the tradition.

Orlando Dipiazza has always been exclusively a choral composer. In the Psalm 133 (1986), for tenors, 2 violins and cello, the instrumental part allows to revive some constructive details which come from the study of archaic polyphony mixed with typically Baroque rhythms.

The two mottoes for choir a cappella Ecce panis angelorum (1976) and Laudate dominum (1986) represent the outcome of a Neoclassical moment in the stylistic development of the composer. The great melodic profile of the song “Cui mi dis” presents several analogies with Arturo Zardini’s masterpiece “Stelutis alpinis”, connecting with a heritage of traditional melodies of Friuli’s higher lands and Carintia, while the other choral elaboration “ Staimi atènz” is a symbol of timeless Friulan singing.
Francesco Corteccia - The Passion of the Christ according to John

In the Passion according to John the musician relied on to the male choir, with four voices, for the turbarum voces (the interventions of the people, soldiers and grand priests); whereas for the historian, the narrating voice, he is presenting the Evangelical text in “Florence’s language”, so that the people could fully understand it.

The tale of the Passion of the Christ develops itself along two main directions: the recitation in Vulgar language and the people’s interventions in Latin.
The Evangelical narration stops in the critical moments thanks to the esponsors from the prophecies and lamentations which represent, following Corteccia’s intentions, moments of devoted meditation.

These polyphonic inserts are the most inspired pages of the entire opera: notably the touching Tristis est anima mea, the dramatic Caligaverunt oculi mei and the Tenebrae factae sunt which is considered to be a masterpiece of the mottoes’ genre.

In the end, after Christ’s death, the choir ends with the Evangelium, which is the tale of the Deposition from the Cross and the Burial.
Gioachino Rossini - Miserere

Composed probably around the years 1810-1813 in Venice, the “Miserere” is one of the few compositions of the Pesarese Maestro for male choir and instruments.

Unknown for many years and rediscovered only in recent times, the “Miserere” is a composition of the young Rossini, but it is not superficial and naïve.
On the other hand, in this piece, the composer is experimenting those harmonic, vocal and instrumental solutions which will later become his personal style in his Operas.

The piece counts on the presence of a group of strings (violin I, viola II, cello and contrabass) to which is added a group of wind instruments (oboes, horns) and a choir of tenors I and II, basses and three male soloists.

The choir and the soloists sing alternating themselves throughout the seven parts in which the composer divided the Psalm 50 text.
Franz Liszt - Requiem R488

Liszt began composing the “Requiem” during a trip to Italy, when he visited Assisi and Loreto. The work was completed in 1871 and was executed for the first time in Weimar in June 1875, under the author’s conduction.

Concerning his autograph version, he did not want to picture the “implacable black colour of the Requiem”, but he wanted to give a Christian-hopeful character to the thought of death.
Various authors - Music and poetry

This CD contains a series of tracks taken from texts of regional poets and revived in the music of Friulan composers. The musics were recorded in the Parliamentary Salon at the Castle of Udine.