Hyperion Records

This is the second of two related settings printed side-by-side in the Messa a quattro voci et salmi. Dr Jerome Roche demonstrated (Music Review, 1971, pages 193–204) that the first, for soprano solo, two violins and continuo, is the original work while the duet version recorded here is a revision which ‘improved it out of all recognition’. After a solemn opening sinfonia the work is constructed like a canzonetta with verses over a walking ground bass separated by a catchy string ritornello. Noteworthy points are the setting of the words ‘initium sapientiae’ (‘the beginning of wisdom’) to a serpentine chromatic line that perhaps illustrates that wisdom can involve deceit, and the exquisite ‘Amen’ which in Jerome Roche’s words ‘seems to disappear into a heavenly haze as the rising scales get slower and canonic imitations thicken.’

from notes by Peter Holman © 1981