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Track(s) taken from CDA66021

Ab aeterno ordinata sum, SV262

composer
motetto a voce sola in basso; from Selva morale e spirituale (1640/1)
author of text
Proverbs 8: 23-31

David Thomas (bass), Peter Holman (chamber organ)
Recording details: February 1981
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Tony Faulkner
Release date: April 1985
Total duration: 6 minutes 0 seconds

Cover artwork: Angel playing a rebec (c1500). A linden-wood sculpture statuette, South German
Reproduced by courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collections, New York
 

Reviews

‘There are few records of Monteverdi's solo vocal music as persuasive as this … superb’ (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

‘Wonderful. Performed with the vigour, intelligence and sense of sheer enjoyment of the music that one would expect from this group of artists’ (International Record Review)

‘One of the most beautiful records I have heard this year’ (The Guardian)

‘Music of exhilarating inspiration, superbly performed. A recording as near as may be to the ideal … a very remarkable recording indeed. For audiophile and music-lovers, this is essential’ (Hi-Fi News)

‘If you don't already own this joyous disc … add it to your collection without delay. It will repay the outlay a hundred times’ (Goldberg)

‘Emma Kirkby is at her bewitching best’ (Amazon.co.uk)
This impressive setting for bass voice and continuo of a poetic description of the creation of the world from the Book of Proverbs is in the heroic style associated with deities in early opera. A comparison with Laudate Dominum, Monteverdi’s only other motet for bass voice, suggests that Ab aeterno is considerably the earlier of the two, and may date from about the same period as his great operatic bass roles, Charon in Orfeo (1607), and Pluto in both Orfeo and Il ballo delle Ingrate.

from notes by Peter Holman © 1981

Cette impressionnante mise en musique pour voix de basse et continuo d’une description de la création du monde extraite des Proverbes adopte le style héroïque réservé aux divinités dans les premiers opéras. D’ailleurs, une comparaison avec Laudate Dominum, le seul autre motet de Monteverdi pour voix de basse, laisse penser qu’Ab aeterno est beaucoup plus ancien et daterait peut-être de la même période que ses grands rôles de basses d’opéra, Charon dans Orfeo (1607) et Pluton dans Orfeo et dans Il ballo delle Ingrate (1608).

extrait des notes rédigées par Peter Holman © 1981
Français: Madeleine Jay

Diese eindrucksvolle Vertonung für Baßstimme und Continuo einer poetischen Beschreibung der Schöpfungsgeschichte aus den Sprüchen ist in dem heroischen Stil geschrieben, der in der frühen Oper oft mit Göttlichkeiten in Verbindung gebracht wurde. Und tatsächlich läßt sich bei einem Vergleich mit Laudate Dominum, Monteverdis einziger anderer Motette für Baßstimme, vermuten, daß Ab aeterno wahrscheinlich wesentlich früher als das andere entstanden war und vielleicht aus derselben Zeit wie seine großen opernbaßrollen Charon aus Orfeo (1607) und Pluto aus Orfeo und Il ballo delle Ingrate (1608) stammt.

aus dem Begleittext von Peter Holman © 1981
Deutsch: Meckie Hellary

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