Giovanni Valentini, Musiche concertate (Venice, 1619)

Giovanni Valentini (b. c.1582/83 probably in Venice; d. Vienna, 29/30 April, 1649)

Musiche concertate con voci, et istromenti, a 6, 7, 8, 9, et 10, con basso continuo (Venice, 1619) ed. Pyrros Bamichas

Giovanni Valentini’s first appointment was as organist of the Polish court chapel, in 1604 or 1605. In 1614 he joined the court establishment of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria as chamber organist, and he followed Ferdinand to Vienna when the latter became Holy Roman Emperor in 1619 as Ferdinand II. In December 1619 he was recorded as ‘first imperial court organist’. On 15 June 1626 he succeeded Giovanni Priuli as Hofkapellmeister. He continued in this post under Ferdinand III until his death. Monteverdi, who dedicated his last two publications to members of the imperial family, must have been well acquainted with Valentini’s vocal music, all of which was published at Venice, and it may have been Valentini’s madrigal publications (particularly those of 1616 and 1619) that introduced Monteverdi to the Viennese predilection for battle music, reflected in his own Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi, dedicated to Emperor Ferdinand III and published in 1638.

Contents / Indice / Inhalt

The complete edition, with introduction, translations into English and German, notes and critical commentary (19.3Mb)

Introduction, texts and translations, critical commentary

  1. Orsa bella, crudele (G.B. Marino) (T, T, B, cno, vlne, bc) 
  2. Fra bianchi gigli e fra vermiglie rose (C, A, T, B, cno, b.vla, bc) 
  3. Un dì soletto (G. Chiabrera) (C, C, T, T, B, cno, b.vla, bc) 
  4. Augellino, bel augellino (C, A, T, B, cno, vlne, bc) 
  5. Caro vezzo d’Amor, con che m’invita (F. Contarini) (C, C, A, T, B, cno, b.vla, bc) 
  6. È partito il mio bene (G.B. Marino) (C, A, T, T, B, cno, b.vla, bc) 
  7. Ecco vicine, o bella tigre, l’ore (C. Achillini) (C, C. A, T, T, B, cno, b.vla, bc) 
  8. Quel augellin che canta (B. Guarini) (C, C, T, T, B, cno, b.vla, bc) 
  9. Deh fuggite gli Amori (C, C, A, T, T, B, cno, vlne, bc) 
  10. Tocchin le trombe all’arma (C, C, T, T, B, cno, tbn, vlne, bc)

Sound Files (prepared by Pyrros Bamichas): follow links for individual works

The edition and translations are copyright ©2013 the editor, translators, The University of Birmingham and The University of Heidelberg. They may be freely downloaded for study or performance (including commercial recordings) provided that the edition and translations are properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder(s).