Asprilio Pacelli, Ludovico da Viadana and the Origins of the Roman Concerto Ecclesiastico
O’ Regan, Noel
Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music, Vol. 6, No. 1
Abstract
In his Cento Concerti Ecclesiastici of 1602 Lodovico da Viadana spoke of others having already published imitations of his work. A print which he might well have regarded as a rival is Asprilio Pacelli’s Chorici Psalmi et Motecta (Rome, 1599), hitherto largely overlooked. Although published without an organ part, it is clear from Pacelli’s foreword that organ accompaniment was essential, and Pacelli further recommends leaving out one of his four vocal parts for a better effect; his foreword has interesting things to say on a number of performance and patronage issues. In this article Pacelli’s publication is placed in the context of his employment at the Collegio Germanico in Rome and of the development of the Roman small-scale concerto with organ during the 1580s and 1590s. Rome is viewed here as a more forward-looking center in this development than has hitherto been recognized, with Viadana perhaps having learned more from Roman musicians during his stay there in the late 1590s than he was prepared to admit.
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