SKU: UT.HS-307

ISBN 9790215327146. 9 x 12 inches.

Antonio Valente blind, Neapolitan since a long time according to the list of Neapolitan musicians by Scipione Cerreto and organist in S. Angelo a Nilo in Naples, is known in modern times for his two volumes of keyboard music: Versi spirituali published in 1580 and, some years before, the volume here in transcription, Intavolatura de cimbalo, printed by Giuseppe Cacchio in 1576.
This volume has many original features: first keyboard tablature ever printed in Naples, itâ??s not written in musical characters but in a number-based system never met, according to the current studies, in any other print or manuscript both in and outside Italy. The dedication letter, written by Fraâ?? Alberto Mazza, praises Valente as the inventor of this writing method, so easy and effective that everybody, even uncouth youths that did not know music and keyboard, could attain the result of playing from it in two months.
The Intavolatura presents different genres of music: a fantasia, six ricercatas, a Salve Regina on a cantus firmus, four vocal chansons intabulated for keyboard with more or less diminutions,and nine dances, variations and dance/variations on long-living tenors like Romanesca or Zefiro. There are no liturgical compositions, both because unsuitable in a collection for amateurs and because Valente will publish a new book of sacred music in a few years.
The book is a sort of compendium of the keyboard genres of the period, similar to some older Spanish publications and to the later Neapolitan ones by Trabaci and Majone. Other contemporary volumes on the contrary choose to present a single type of composition: this is the case of the Versetti by Valente and the Ricercate by Rocco Rodio.

SKU: FG.55011-499-9

ISBN 9790550114999.

Sonata da chiesa III was commissioned by Petteri Pitko, who played the first perfor-mance in Kemionsaaren Musiikkijuhlat in the summer of 2016. The sonata has three movements, each of which has a definite liturgical character and a choral tune as a can-tus firmus. Hence the music can be performed either in a concert or as a part of liturgy.

From the composer's foreword: The first movement, Kyrie, has got an introvert mood. The choral melody is veiled, an indirect part of arpeggiated texture. The Gloria is open, even brilliant: the cantus firmus is worked out to a virtuosic, dance-like texture. The third movement closes the music by means of polyphony and bird singing. Concerning the harpsichord, for me it is essen-tial not to use equal temperament: the possibility to play with pure or almost pure in-tervals is crucial to the sound, having very high and strong overtones.

Duration c. 12'.

SKU: KU.OCT-10032_CEMB

Key: D major.

SKU: KU.OCT-10060_CEMB

ISBN 9790206200540. Key: G minor.

SKU: KU.OCT-10074_CEMB

ISBN 9790206209383. Key: C major.