Search - Bernardo Pasquini, Alessandro Scarlatti, Gregorian Chant :: A. Scarlatti: Messa per il SS.mo Natale

The music of Alessandro Scarlatti, mostly vocal and choral in nature, has in recent years become more and more familiar through recordings, despite the greater fame of his son Domenico Scarlatti, composer of the famous harpsichord sonatas. Scarlatti?s Christmas Mass is dated December 1707 and is for nine-voice double choir, two violins and organ. Conductor Michele Gasbarro found the parts of this Mass, among other works of Alessandro Scarlatti, in the archives of Santa Maria Maggiore, where the composer served as chapelmaster. While it has typically baroque features, the overall style of the work is "alla Palestrina," which is Scarlatti?s very own favorite definition of his compositions at this particular period in his creative output. On this recording, the performance follows the liturgical practice of the time and the musical tradition of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore: the Ordinarium Missae, i.e., Scarlatti?s Mass, alternates with the Gregorian chant "Proprium" from the Mass "Ad Primam in Nocte" and with motets and compositions for organ. The booklet contains the complete text in English, Italian, French and German.