Program Notes

1629 Venice
Dario Castello, Biagio Marini, and Giuseppe Scarani

Three publications from Venice by three different composers influenced the future of msuic in Europe and make 1629 a turning point year in the evolution of the Baroque. Biagio Marini's Sonate, sinfonie, canzoni..., opus 8, published in Venice, but while he was in Nuremburg, is Marini's largest collection of instrumental music. In opus 8 Marini explored unusual compositional technqiues, for example, triple stopping, an idea that would not be embraced by other composers for decades. Copies of Dario Castello's Sonate concertate in stil moderno, dedicated to Emperor Ferdinand II, can be found in collections throughout Europe. Castello was a pioneer of musical notation, being one of the first to include clear tempo markings, bar lines throughout, and indications to use the harpsichord instead of the organ as a continuo instrument. In 1629 Giuseppe Scarani, a Carmelite monk and organist from Mantua, was employed as a singer at the Basilica of St. Mark's. A year later he published a collection of sonatas under the title, Sonate concertate, that his colleague, Castello, had used in his, now popular, collection. Castello's and Marini's collections are early Baroque masterpieces, and their influence is easily seen in Scarani's collection. These composers through their work expanded the musical language of the Baroque through their innovations, changing the course of Baroque music throughout 17th century Europe.

Improvisation In the Early Baroque
The "prelude" before the Baroque era was an improvisation that preceded a work in order to introduce the listener to another piece whose mode, or key, may have been different from the preceding work. The word prelude has many roots: from France (préluder) and Germany (präludieren), both meaning to improvise, and the Latin praeambulu,m from rhetoric, the task of attracting an audience and introducing a topic. The prelude, both improvisational and written, was for a solo instrument, most often keyboard, and the practice of improvising between pieces, common during the Renaissance, continued into the early Baroque. During the Baroque, the title of prelude began to be used for any number of musical forms that indicated an improvisatory style and as an introductory movement for a longer work.

International Day of the Women 2015
In order to honor International Day of the Women 2015, two 17th century, women composers are included in today's program.