Picchi: Complete Harpsichord Music and Other Venetian Gems

The only complete survey available of the keyboard music written by a forward-looking contemporary of Monteverdi.

Compsoer: Giovanni Picchi
Artist: Simone Stella (harpsichord)

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Giovanni Picchi (1572-1643) flourished in Venice, notably as the organist at the Scuola di San Rocco. He became renowned as a composer of both secular and sacred music, attested by his presence in the Nobiltà di dame by Fabrizio Caroso, the most important collection of dance music of the time. A collection of his canzone was published in 1625 and his fame spread to England, where a Toccata for harpsichord was transcribed within the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (of which Brilliant has recently released the first-ever complete recording, 95915).

Other important sources for his keyboard music include collections published in Venice in 1621 and an undated collection of intablatures (transcriptions and elaborations of music by other composers) which is now held in Turin. Together they amount to some of the most brilliant and appealing music for the harpsichord from 17th-century Italy. Picchi’s harmonic language was especially daring, and his flair as a performer is reflected in the style of his writing, which exploits the full range of the instrument.
In complement to Picchi’s work, Simone Stella has chosen other jewels from Venetian composers of the time: toccatas, ricercare and canzone by Annibale Padovano, Claudio Merulo, Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli and Vincenzo Bellavere. Bellavere is another neglected figure nowadays, but the Toccata recorded here is a gloriously ornate example of the genre, alternating intricate counterpoint with filigree decoration.

Giovanni Matteo Picchi was born in Venice, one of the most important musical centers of that time. A versatile musician, perfectly at ease in the practice of both secular and church music, Picchi lived and worked most of his life in Venice, and concentrated on performing on and composing for the keyboard, developing a musical practice closely linked to dance music, which enjoyed widespread popularity and a prestigious tradition in Venice.

In 1619, Picchi published Intavolatura di balli d’arpicordo, one of the rare collections of music for keyboard moulded on contemporary dance music. The majority of Picchi's dances are composed in pairs. Three of the four Passamezzos are followed by a Saltarello in triple meter. The short dances in duple meter (Ballo alla Polacha, Ballo Ongaro and the Todescha) conclude with either a balletto or saltarello in triple meter. The Padoana ditta la Ongara and the Ongara a un altro modo obviously form a single composition consisting of variations.

Further to the keyboard music of Picchi this recording presents other keyboard works by Venetian masters: Padovano, Merulo, Gabrieli and Bellavere, a collection of Canzonas, Toccatas and Ricerares.

Tracklist:
00:00:00 Toccata, FVB 95

Intavolatura di balli d’arpicordo:
00:04:39 I. Pass’e mezzo
00:10:23 II. Saltarello del pass’e mezzo
00:11:39 III. Ballo ditto il Pichi
00:13:42 IV. Ballo ditto il Stefanin
00:15:59 V. Ballo alla Polacha
00:18:16 VI. Ballo Ongaro
00:20:52 VII. Todescha
00:22:29 VIII. Padoana ditta la Ongara
00:23:50 IX. L’Ongara a un’altro modo

Intavolatura d’organo:
00:25:27 I. Passe e mezzo di Mg. Gio. Picchi
00:29:07 II. Passo e mezzo di Giovan. Picchi
00:31:59 III. Saltarello del detto
00:33:27 IV. Passe e mezzo del Giovanni Picchi
00:38:17 V. Saltarello del detto prima parte

00:39:39 Toccata del VI tono
00:43:44 Ricercare del XII tono
00:48:43 Canzon à 4, dita “la bovia”
00:52:03 Toccata I “Undecimo detto uinto tono”
00:58:01 Canzon Francese detta frais et gaillard
01:02:08 Toccata
01:05:36 Fuga del IX tono
01:08:11 Ricercare del VII e VIII tono
01:11:09 Canzon I detta la spiritata

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