NICOLO FONTEI: MELODIAE SACRAE, Op. 3 (1638). Motets for 2,3,4,or 5 Voices and Basso Continuo. Edited by Janet E. Hunt. 195 pages. $40.00. Available as a spiral-bound printed volume (ISBN 978-0-9962221-7-4) or as a downloadable PDF.

The composer Nicolò Fontei (? – c.1647) certainly must have led an interesting life, due to his activity in both secular and sacred venues in northern Italy during the time of Monteverdi and Cavalli.  Born in Orciano di Pesaro, by 1634 he was in Venice, where he soon published two collections of secular vocal music titled Bizzarrie poetiche poste in musica in 1635 and 1636.  These musical settings of poems, most penned by Giulio Strozzi, were dedicated to the talented young singer Barbara Strozzi.  In the dedication Fontei states that he "principally desires to please the charming and highly gifted young woman Signora Barbara," who was only sixteen at the time.  A third book in the series, opus 4, followed in 1639. 

In his first publication of sacred music, Melodiae Sacrae, opus 3 (1638), Fontei exhibits a sure grasp of current northern Italian compositional techniques in composing for the popular scoring of a few solo voices with continuo. Amongst the expected treatments of Marian, Eucharistic, and psalm texts are some attractive settings of Biblical stories and expressions of penitence, showing effective scoring of dialogue.  To cite just one example: Maria Magdalena (#23) skillfully narrates the story of the fallen woman anointing the feet of Jesus with precious ointment, and the household guests’ outcry at the perceived waste of resources.  Scored for four voices, Fontei illustrates the indignant reaction of the guests by setting their entrances of protest at different times, (measures 77-99), sounding like the clamor of an angry mob.  Jesus’ solo in the bass part quells their commotion, and the motet concludes with the mollification of the guests, who recognize that Mary has done a good thing.  

The entire collection of 26 motets is proof of the work of a confident master who was at home in both secular and sacred vocal techniques, and who was able to meld these techniques tastefully in beautiful arrangements of sacred words. The motets of Melodiae Sacrae compare favorably with the works of Fontei’s more prolific Venetian contemporary, Francesco Cavalli, and deserve to become just as well-known. This publication will add to the growing understanding of early 17th century Venetian music activity in general and the specific contributions of lesser-known musicians such as Nicolò Fontei.