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Monteverdi Vespers
"To edit it is to receive the kiss of death as a scholar. To
perform it is to court disaster."
Denis Arnold, 'More Monteverdi Vespers', Musical Times,
1967, vol 108, p. 637.
"Hopefully, those who perform the Monteverdi Vespers will pay
attention to the research which demonstrates that for Monteverdi’s
contemporaries, it may have involved a variety of choices, but no
problems at all."
Jeffrey Kurtzman, 'Resolving the Controversies over the
Monteverdi Vespers', Historical Performance 2 (2020), pp.
91–160
Ancient Groove Music is proud to announce the release of a new edition of the Baroque masterwork, Claudio Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine of 1610. The edition is designed to be completely customizable to the customers’ requirements. We can therefore produce 'bespoke' editions of the Vespers.
This work has been the subject of a considerable amount of musicological research over the last 50 years by leading scholars and historically informed performers, such as Jeffrey Kurtzman, Uwe Wolf, Roger Bowers, Andrew Parrott, Paul McCreesh, Clifford Bartlett and others. Transposition; proportional relationships of tempi; the extent of instrumental doubling.
This exciting new edition hopes to accommodate the range of different performance choices, and to help performers make their own decisions, by providing suggestions based on the latest scholarship, as well as feasible alternatives. At the same time, it maintains standards of authority and scholarship with critical notes, ossia variants, footnotes and all editorial contributions clearly marked. The music is presented in an attractive layout, and the scores and parts are also available in a range of options. Individual customizations can be produced on request.
The Edition
Editorial features of this edition include:
- Rhythmic suggestions for falsobordone bars
- Indications for 'solo' and 'tutti' passages in the psalms
- Suggestions for tempi and proportional relationships between time signatures
- Options for instrumental doubling
- Alternative readings in ossia staves and footnotes
All of which can be easily ignored by conductors with their own ideas! Or alternatives can be created.
Transposition
The edition is supplied 'by default' with Lauda Jerusalem and the Magnificat down a fourth. The music is also available at original pitch or in other transposition schemes.
Instrumentation
Following the instruments named in the 1610 print, the edition provides parts with colla voce doubling, as following:
Cantus (“Cornetto 1”)
Cantus (“Violino 1”)
Sextus (“Cornetto 2”)
Sextus (“Violino 2”)
Altus & Altus 2 (“Viola 1”): C clef
Altus & Altus 2 (“Cornetto 3”): G clef (other?)
Tenor & Tenor 2 (“Alto Trombone/Viola 2”): C clef
Quintus & Quintus 2 (“Trombone 2/Violoncello 1”)
Bassus, Bassus 2 (“Trombone doppio/basso/Violoncello 2/Contrabasso”)
Bassus generalis
There are also two parts for the briefly used woodwind in the Magnificat.
Fully Customised!
The edition is supplied as a 'standard' score, detailing the music as it appears in the 1610 print. A 'conductor's score' and instrumental parts are available on request, showing whatever instrumental doubling is required. Most importantly of all, the benefits of computerized music notation mean that it is very easy to provide customized editions to order — parts for additional instrumentation, other transposition schemes — giving the fullest range of interpretations of this flexible work.
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If you have any questions about this exciting new edition: things you would like to see included; options you would like made available; or enquiries about parts and customization, please contact us! (Email address at the top of the page.)