In Rovetta’s setting of the
Salve Regina the instruments have a modern role, accompanying the voice as well as alternating with it, creating rich and sensuous textures. Not surprisingly, this fine piece found its way to northern Europe: a version of it wrongly ascribed to Franz Tunder was copied for the Swedish court as ‘Salve mi Jesu, pater misericordiae’ – a text suitably purged of Marian sentiments for Protestant sensibilities. Rovetta was a Venetian, and spent his entire career at St Mark’s, succeeding Monteverdi as maestro di capella in 1644.
from notes by Peter Holman © 2001
