Alessandro Scarlatti’s great music, at one time considerably obscured by preference for his son Domenico’s corpus of sonatas, directly or indirectly influenced the keyboard works of his contemporaries Gaetano Greco (1657–1728) and Francesco Mancini (1672–1737). His compositions acquire their full meaning when compared with the later virtuoso harpsichord music of Francesco Durante and Leonardo Leo. Alessandro Scarlatti’s reputation at the beginning of the 18th century can be deduced from the enormous quantity of manuscript copies of his works conserved in libraries all over Europe.

A vigorous, exciting disc by Roberto Festa’s Daedalus Ensemble! Daedalus/Roberto Festa: flute, percussion, conductor

ANON: Invocatio Musarum • NIGRUS: Tempora labuntur • ARCADELT: At trepida et coeptis immanibus effera Dido • TRITONIUS: Miserarum est • BRIXIEN: Ut vidi, ut perii • GAFFURIO: Musices septemque modos planetae • TROMBONCINO: La fiamma che m’abbruscia • DE RORE: O sonno • ARCADELT: Poscimur si quid vacui sub umbra • LE JEUNE: Mon coeur qui brusle, • Les diverses douleurs • Qu’est devenu • TRITONIUS: Iam satis terries

From the middle of the 15th century in Naples, there was a great ferment due to the contact between Spanish and local cultures, with a strong impulse toward development in instruments and musical forms. Of the instruments, there are some that knew a period of grace but then fell into disuse; among these are the buttafuoco and the sordellina. This CD gives an overview of instruments and pieces typical of this period.

As the golden century was glimmering its last stars, the arts entered a period of pessimism and disillusionment made of scorned loves and tales of cloak and dagger. Music expressed these themes through satirical or moralistic poems, turned into courtly or theatrical songs. The Tonos Humanos, the only known piece of José Marin, stands on this ground with the poetry of Lope de Vega, and is made of great musical originality. The madrigal form and chromaticism of this work greatly developed the harmonic role of the guitar.