Description
Ricordanze: a record of love, presents our deepest exploration yet of the haunting and extraordinary music of sixteenth-century nuns who sang their community through siege, plague, and deprivation – from the only surviving manuscript of polyphony from a Renaissance convent. It reveals the musical world of San Matteo in Arcetri, a modest community in the hills outside Florence. The manuscript may well still have been in use a few decades later, when Suor Maria Celeste, daughter of Galileo Galilei, became the convent choirmistress.
Laurie says: “The Biffoli-Sostegni manuscript has captivated me for a decade, which is how long it took me to find where it came from, to reconstruct its contents from its crumbling pages, and to understand its place in both the story of Florence and in the history of women making music. It’s a uniquely important document for both musicians and historians, but I was utterly beguiled by the strange beauty of its music, too. I’m delighted that we’ve been able to bring these works back to life.”
Featured Album of the Week on Radio 3 Essential Classics, Georgia Mann called this recording “an absolute banger.” We agree!
Additional information
| Weight | 0.105 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 12.5 × 14 × 0.5 cm |
Press reviews
Gramophone
Musica Secreta are having a moment of brilliance.
Read the full review by Edward Breen on the Gramophone website.
Choir and Organ
lively, believable and engaging performances guided by impeccable research
Read the full review byRebecca Taverner on the Choir and Organ website.
Early Music America
It’s a compelling concept for a recording, filled with musicological discoveries, dramatic historical moments, and fascinating characters, but the most important element, of course, is the music.
Read the full review by Karen Cook on the Early Music America website.
Music Web International
The atmosphere of the recording is such that the listener gets the feeling of witnessing nuns singing in their convent….
From every angle this is an important production, and lovers of Renaissance music should not miss it. I am looking forward to further projects of this fine ensemble.
Read the full review by Johan van Veen on the Music Web International website.
Andrew Benson-Wilson : Early Music Reviews
…the result of serious musicological research combined with a labour of love – a fulfilling combination…. Quite apart from the musical and historical interest, it is a delight to hear the distinctive sound female voices in what is usually such a male-dominated musical environment.
Read the full review by Andrew Benson-Wilson on his Early Music Reviews website.
The Arts Desk
This celebration of music for women (and perhaps by women, who knows?) is lovingly put together and well worth hearing on its own, musical terms – but the historical and scholarly backstory adds further layers of fascination.
Read the full review by Bernard Hughes on the The Arts Desk website.
Interlude
Musica Secreta brings a polished edge to a genre that is too often sidelined by more extravagant forms.
Read the full review by Maureen Buja on the Interlude website.
BBC Music Magazine
Vocal textures are lumlnous, balanced and the predominant a cappella is accompanied, where deemed beneficial, by lute, bass viol and organ. All is contained in an unusually decorative container… Nicholas Anderson
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