Benedicta et Venerabilis

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This piece was written for the Italian early music ensemble Cantica Symphonia. The CD on which it appears Stella del Nostro Mar is a collection of motets and laude inspired by the Virgin Mary, spanning five centuries from Renaissance to present times. This CD was awarded the Diapason d'Or prize for 2008.

"Benedicta et Venerabilis travels down the path of simple devotion; it could be a sort of modern lauda, with an expressive register of great simplicity and self-control. The melody maintains a constant rhythmic gesture and clearly encompasses the development ot the text with and alternation of very short solo entries and tutti of great evocative power. This apparent simplicity hides nonetheless a rigorous and sophisticated geometric elaboration of the poetical and musical texts. The text taken from the chant gradual is not characterized by a constant metre and in fact is made up of various groupings of five and seven syllables, taking advantage of the elasticity of the 5/4 time signature; contributing to the way that the expressiveness of the lines stand out, the system of dynamic and metronomic indications creates a series of subtle internal contrasts."

-- Giovanni Zanovello.

CD info: Stella del Nostro Mar