CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI A sacred concert: music for 1, 2 & 3 solo voices Concerto Vocale, René Jacobs

From Mantua to Venice
Two distinct styles are discernible in Monteverdi’s monumental output - he called them the prima prattica and the seconda prattica, to distinguish his works in the traditional Renaissance style from those in the ‘modern’ style, which founded the new musical aesthetic we now call the ‘Baroque’. Even in the inherently conservative domain of church music Monteverdi was a man of the avant-garde. This is amply borne out in the famous motets, duos and trios on this recording.