Latin Lauds in Italy

Claustrum Beautitudinis
Laude Latine del Monastero di San Colombano in Bobbio - secolo XIII & XIV
Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua - Stefano Albarello
Symphonia 95141

Contents:

    Tempus Adventus
  1. Gabriel angelus locutus est (antifona)
  2. Missus baiulus (lauda)
  3. Maria dixit (antifona)
  4. Beata es Maria (lauda)

    5. Tempus Nativitatis
  5. Verbum Caro factum est (lauda)
  6. Natus est hodie (lauda)
  7. Pastores dicite (antifona)
    Angelus ad pastores (antifona)
  8. Hodie lux orta est (lauda)
  9. Hodie Christus natus est (antifona)
  10. Hodie fit egressus (lauda)
  11. Hodie intacta Virgo (antifona)
  12. Felix est egressio (lauda)

    13. In Festo Beatae Mariae Virginis
  13. Ave Virgo Maria (lauda)
  14. Ave stella matutina (instrumental)
  15. Maria que Deum paris (lauda)
  16. Nos dignare te laudare (lauda)
  17. Regina iusticie (lauda)
  18. Tu nobis des hodie (lauda)
  19. Vernans rosa (instrumental)
  20. Vernans rosa (lauda)

Performers: Stefano Albarello (countertenor, lute, gittern), Paolo Faldi (recorders, shawms), Marco Muzzati (percussion, psaltery), Alberto Ponchio (shawm), Gianfranco Russo (vielle), Vincenzo Di Donato (tenor), Antonio Domenighini (baritone), Paolo Fanciullacci (tenor), Matteo Zenatti (tenor)

Playing time: 70'

Recording date: June 1995

The "laud" began as term referring to alleluias & tropes for the Gloria, and then became a reference to certain strophic forms of monophonic songs on sacred texts. Eventually the genre became even more mixed in Italy, with popular forms such as dance music lending rhythmic contours, and vernacular texts changing the underlying message. They were even prohibited from liturgical celebrations in various places, due to this transfiguration.

The present recording deals exclusively with the Latin laud, surviving in mensural notation from an early 14th century manuscript. In fact, these songs in ballata form represent an intermediate point on the path to Ars Nova notation, and hence have a good deal in common with the more famous Llibre Vermell.

This production is a superlative one, both careful in its choices and passionate in its interpretation. The lauds from the San Colombano Monastery in Bobbio are performed in the sequence of the liturgical year and interspersed with short antiphons from the same source.

Other recordings by this ensemble:

Epos
Music of the Carolingian Era
Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua - Stefano Albarello
Passacaille 974
Berenguer de Palol: Joys amors et chants
Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua - Stefano Albarello
Passacaille 978
Ballate e Madrigali
At the Court of Paolo Guinigi (sec. XV)
Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua / Concentus Lucensis - Stefano Albarello
Tactus 400002
Canticum Canticorum
Il Simbolo Sacro dell'Amore nella Tradizione Musicale Medioevale
Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua - Stefano Albarello
Symphonia 95135
O spem miram
Ufficio e Messa per S.Domenico secondo il canto dell'Ordine dei Predicatori - secolo XIII
Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua - Stefano Albarello
Symphonia 96145
Ondas do mar
El Canto de Amor en el Mediterraneo del siglo XIII
Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua - Stefano Albarello
Symphonia 98157
Aines
Mistero Provenzale Medioevale
Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua - Stefano Albarello
Symphonia 99165

And a similar program with the same director:

Laude sulla vita di Gesù
Canti drammatici delle Confraternite del XIII secolo
Concentus Lucensis / I Cantori del Miserere di Sessa Aurunca - Stefano Albarello
Tactus 280001

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Todd M. McComb