Search - Les Inventions, Voces8 :: Benedetto Marcello: Psalms

VOCES8 and Les Inventions shine a light on a hidden musical treasure in these world-premiere recordings of Charles Avisons 1757 adaptation of Benedetto Marcellos 1724-26 magnum opus Estro-poetico armonico, settings of the first fifty Psalms of David as paraphrased by the poet Girolamo Ascanio Giustiniani. In addition to the subtle deployment of vocal resources, and his imaginative use of musical techniques to illustrate the texts, Marcello brought to these psalms a peculiar quality of freshness and originality that unquestionably contributed to their becoming a major international success, so demonstrated by the works rapid translation into many other languages, as well as by the enthusiasm with which these settings were embraced by performers of a variety of religious traditions including Anglican, Lutheran and Jewish.