In this episode, we’ll listen to one work: a Requiem Mass by Costanzo Porta.
Costanzo Porta was born in Cremona, Italy. In 1549 he moved to Venice, where he became a student of Adrian Willaert. His first position was that of capellmeister at the Osimo Cathedral. He remained there for thirteen years, after which he held the same position in Padua. After that, he worked for seven years in Ravenna. He visited the courts of Ferrara and Mantua, where he became acquainted with two masters of the madrigal: Luzzasco Luzzaschi and Giaches de Wert. This inspired him to compose madrigals. At the end of his life, he returned to Padua, where he died in 1601. Porta taught several composers. The best-known among them is Ludovico da Viadana.
In this episode we’ll hear his Missa Mortuorum for five voices that he composed around 1575. It is an alternatim Mass, in which monophony and polyphony alternate. In this particular performance, the Requiem Mass is presented within a liturgical framework. It begins with the Gregorian antiphon Si bona suscepimus and ends with the similarly monophonic Libera me. The gradual Si ambulem and the tract Sicut cervus are also sung monophonically.
Playlist
- Costanzo Porta (1528/29-1601) – Missa Mortuorum a 5
– Gregorian: Si bona suscepimus (antiphon)
– Porta: Requiem aeternam (introitus), Kyrie
– Gregorian: Si ambulem (gradual), Sicut cervus (tract)
– Porta: Dies irae (sequentia), Domine Jesu Christe (offertorium), Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Lux aeterna (communio)
– Gregorian: Libera me (absolutio)
Istvánffy Chamber Choir conducted by Lörinc Muntag
(CD: ‘Missa Mortuorum’ – BMC Records BMC CD 306, 2022)
Addition:
- Andrea Gabrieli (1532/33-1585) – Ricercar del settimo tono
Roberto Loreggian, organ
(CD: ‘Complete Keyboard Music’ – Brilliant Classics 94432, 2015)
Image: Costanzo Porta (source: Wikipedia)
