A child prodigy born into a wealthy Ferraresi family, Girolamo Frescobaldi published his Fiori musicali in 1635. Close to 60 years old, these musical flowers are his only compositions devoted to church music. The flower we’ll hear tonight is the Missa della Madonna, the last of the three masses comprising Fiori musicali.
The eight male voices of the Canticum ensemble, founded in 1988, are under the direction of Christoph Erkens. Joining them is Lorenzo Ghielmi playing the Gian Giacomo Antegnati organ, completed in 1558 and restored in 1982. Tonight’s program comes from recordings made October 18-19, 1994 in the Church of San Maurizio in Milan’s Monastero Maggiore, and released in 1996 by Deutsche Harmonia Mundi.
Tonight’s program is available for On Demand listening for two weeks following the broadcast.