The Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers of the Blessed Virgin) by GIOVANNI LEGRENZI(1626-1690), which will be performed on 14 August in the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta in Clusone (Italy) by the Collegium vocale et instrumentale Nova Ars Cantandi under the direction of Giovanni Acciai and with Ivana Valotti at the organ, is taken from the fifth work by the Clusonese: Salmi a cinque, tre voci e due violini and basso continuo (Psalms for Five, Three Voices and Two Violins), published in Venice in 1657. This is a musical re-proposal of great historical and cultural value, which will allow the audience present at the event to hear, for the first time after four centuries since their creation, music rescued from the oblivion of the archives in which they were buried and brought back to life through the performance proposal.
The Psalms for Five, Three Voices and Two Violins  is a collection of thirteen pieces: twelve psalms (Domine ad ad adjuvndum, Dixit Dominus, Confitebor, Beatus vir, Laudate pueri, Laudate Dominum, Laetatus sum, Nisi Dominus, Lauda Jerusalem, Credidi, In convertendo, Beati omnes) and the Magnificat, or the Canticum Beatae Mariae Virginis.
This is the traditional sylloge, taken from the Roman Psalter, and intended for the creation of any type of Vespers for the Divine Office of all feasts contemplated by the liturgical calendar, hence also that of 15 August, ‘In festo assumptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis’.
The psalms provided by the Commune festorum B. Mariae Virginis, ad Vesperas are, Domine ad ad adjuvandum, Dixit Dominus, Laudate pueri, Laetatus sum, Nisi Dominus, Lauda Jerusalem. This is followed by the hymn Ave, Maris stella and the Magnificat.
With this Vespers of the Blessed Virgin we find ourselves before another masterpiece by Giovanni Legrenzi, deserving to be re-proposed to the public’s attention through concert performance, in the knowledge that if one really wants to achieve a thorough understanding of the musical legacy of this author, one of the greatest in Western musical history, there is no other choice than this.
