The psalms of Lodovico Viadana (1560-1627) are intended for the liturgical Vesper service (evening prayer or afternoon service). Viadana composed eight psalms and a magnificat that he could use throughout the church year. What is special about these settings is that they are written for four choirs. Choir I consists of soloists, choir II consists of four-part choir, choir III and IV are contrast
… choirs with high (III) and low (IV) voices. The musical dialogue mainly takes place between choirs I and II; choir III and IV provide musical contrasts. The advantage of Viadana's settings was that choir III and IV could be omitted. Rich cities could afford more choirs in the cathedral than poorer cities, so the psalm settings could be used in various settings. The magnificat and the psalms 109, 110, 111, 112, 121 and 126 can be heard on a CD by various soloists and instrumentalists and Cappella Breda conducted by Daan Manneke. The CD is a registration of a concert from 1994. The CD booklet contains a lot of information about the composer and works in Dutch. (LW) _more
