Giovanni Bassano:
Fantasie 1, 6, 10, 13, 17 & 20
Salvator mundi
Dic nobis, Maria
Confitemini Domino
Haec est virgo

Alessandro Striggio:
Nasce la pena mia – Luca Marenzio:
Quando i vostri
Liquide perle Amor

Ciprian de Rore:
Quando signor
Ma poi che vostr'altezza
Anchor che co'l partire
La bella netta ignuda e bianca mano

Giovanni P. Palestrina:
Veni, veni dilecte mi
Tota pulchra es amica mea
Fuit homo missus a Deo
Pulchra es amica mea

The process of diminution in the music of Giovanni Bassano (c1558-1617) should not be understood in an over-literal sense: the diminution of note values significantly increases the technical demands of these works. Around 1600, Bassano perfected the art of ornamentation in the melodic lines of polyphonic works through fast figuration patterns, particularly in his music for wind instruments, creating a dazzling display of virtuosity. He not only applied this principle to his own partitas and fantasias but also to the works of other composers; in a volume published in 1591, he compiled a collection of compositions by contemporary masters such as Palestrina and Cipriano de Rore reworked according to his own unmistakable style, creating instrumental and vocal works for virtuoso soloists.

Monika Mauch and the Capricornus Ensemble Stuttgart set off on a voyage of discovery in this new recording of arrangements and original works by Bassano, highlighting this unfamiliar tonal world with the aid of their colourful instrumental palette.