ZARLINO Canticum Canticorum

WILLAERT Pater noster
ZARLINO Osculetur  me
ZARLINO Nigra sum sed formosa
ZARLINO Si ignoras
ZARLINO Ecce tu pulchra es
ZARLINO Ego rosa saron
_

ZARLINO Capite nobis
ZARLINO In lectulo meo
ZARLINO Adjuro vos filiae ierusalem
ZARLINO Ferculum fecit sibi rex salomon
ZARLINO Ego veni in hortum meum
JOSQUIN Inviolata integra

Motets on the Song of Songs from the 1549 Musici moduli liber primus by Venetian composer and theorist, Gioseffo Zarlino (1517-1590), together with 2 motets by Willaert  and Josquin cited in Zarlino's theoretical writings performed from  editions based on sources in the archives of Toledo  Cathedral.

The musical citations of Gioseffo Zarlino's great treatise, Istitutioni harmoniche (1558) offer an unusually detailed view of one individual's musical world in mid-sixteenth century Venice. The works  on this concert reflect the two sides of Zarlno: composer and theorist. Cristle Collins Judd recently recovered a Song of Songs (Canticum  canticorum) cycle by Zarlino that forms the core of the program.

"This cycle was an extraordinary undertaking in the 1540s, drawing together both theological and musical preoccupations of that decade. Setting Isidoro Chiari's 1544 translation of the Song of Songs, the motet  cycle reflects the aesthetic priorities of the Cassinese Congregation of  Benedictines of which Chiari was an abbot. Cassinese churches had polished white interiors, clear windows, and a choir centered under the main dome.  Among architects and artists responsible for realizing their vision were  Palladio and Correggio. Zarlino's setting suggests a musical analogy of motets intended for academic devotion that attempt a large-scale affective  reading of the Song of Songs through the eyes of Cassinese theology."       - Cristle Collins Judd

ItIn addition are two motets cited by Zarlino that appeared in printed  and manuscripts sources across Europe. By Willaert and Josquin, they also appear in the choirbooks of Toledo Cathedral. In this way the program  exemplifies Ensemble Plus Ultra's interests in the repertory of Spanish institutions, and in performing previously unknown works. 

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