Johann Rosenmüller (1617-1684) was employed for a time as a trombonist in San Marco, and, from 1658 to 1677 and again from 1678 to 1682, he worked as “maestro de coro“ (choirmaster) at the Ospedale della Pieta. Unmissable in his works is the influence of Francesco Cavalli (1602- 1676), who, after Monteverdi‘s death, rose up to become the leading composer in Venice, and whose opera style Rosenmüller had copied in his own church music. The overwhelming majority of Rosenmüller’s Venetian compositions are the Latin psalm concertos, which belong – according to their liturgical purpose – to Compline (Latin completus: completed, concluded), the prayers for the end of the day, at the close of Vespers. The Bible texts, which have a special relationship with night and with sleep, symbols of death, are specifically required by the liturgy. Unlike the great Vespers psalm concertos for male and female saints, which distinguish themselves with their splendid sound structure from multiple choirs in the style of Gabrieli, the compositions on this CD show intimacy as well as passion.