Giovanni Carrone: Il Primo Libro delli Motetti (1629)

Of the many north Italian musicians who contributed to the treasure of Venetian music publications appearing during the beginning of the 17th century, Giovanni Carrone is one of the most obscure.  Il primo libro delli Motetti of 1629 is all the evidence available of his life as a composer.  The 38 titles contained therein show him to be a skillful creator of modest length, well-crafted compositions for one through four voices and continuo which probably suited his purposes very well.  Most of the time his harmonic language is conventional, but occasionally he surprises with effective text-painting. One example is an extensive use of coloration and longer note values in Caro mea for the text “et sanguis meus vere est potus.”  Another instance, mentioned by Jerome Roche in his brief New Grove biographical paragraph, occurs when Carrone travels rapidly from B-flat major to B Major on the text “quia amore langueo” in the motet Anima mea.

The collection’s titles include texts suitable for a number of occasions throughout the church year, as well as several lovely settings of passages taken from Song of Songs.  These motets are worthy examples of the small-scale concertato motet genre.  The editor is pleased to present this edition of the 1629 print so that they may become be better known.