Selva morale e spirituale (SV 252–288) is the short title of a collection ofsacred music by the Italian composerClaudio Monteverdi, published inVenice in 1640 and 1641. The title translates to "Moral and Spiritual Forest".[1] The full title is: "Selva / Morale e Spirituale / di Clavdio Monteverde / Maestro di Capella della Serenissima / Republica Di Venetia / Dedicata / alla Sacra Cesarea Maesta dell' Imperatrice / Eleonora / Gonzaga / Con Licenza de Superiori & Priuilegio. / In Venetia M DC X X X X / Appresso Bartolomeo Magni".[2]
Selva morale e spirituale was Monteverdi's "most significant anthology of liturgical works since theVespers in 1610".[3] The collection of various works in different instrumentation was published in Venice in 1640 and 1641. While the 1610 publication summarizes Monteverdi's sacred works written forVincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua,Selva morale e spirituale presents works composed atSan Marco, Venice, where Monteverdi had served since 1613.[4] The collection was dedicated toEleonora Gonzaga and published by Bartolomeo Magni. The date in the original title is 1640, but the process of publishing lasted until 1641.[2] The edition is considered Monteverdi's testament of church music, compiled when he was already 74 years old.[5]
The collection contains various forms of sacred music, frommadrigals in Italian to a completemass, the instrumentation varying between a single voice to eight voices with instruments:
The mass,Messa à 4 da capella, is set instile antico (old style) for four voices andbasso continuo.[6] It is complemented by a seven-partGloria à 7 instile concertato, and separate parts of theCredo, such asCrucifixus,Et resurrexit andEt iterum.
The collection also contains settings ofMarian hymns such as theMagnificat in two versions, and three settings ofSalve Regina. The last section containsmotets for a single voice.
Selva morale e spirituale is a collection of individual works, not intended to be performed in that order. An early recording of the complete collection was performed by the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, conducted byMichel Corboz, in 1965 to 1967.[7] Several movements have been grouped to formvespers services. A vespers sequence was recorded in 1992 byMusica Fiata, including Dixit Dominus II, Confitebor I, Beatus vir I, Laudate pueri I, Laudate Dominum III, Magnificat I and Salve Regina. The vocal movements were combined with instrumental works ofGiovanni Picchi from hisCanzoni da sonar (1625).[8] A first complete recording of all works was recorded in 2001 byCantus Cölln.[5][9] A 2003 recording of the Ensemble Vocal Akadèmia combined movements to masses and vespers.[10] In a similar approach, the ensembleLa Venexiana provided in 2008 two vespers and a mass, trying to recreate the solemn mass which celebrated the cessation ofthe plague in Venice on 21 November 1631.[11] In 2019 the Washington D.C. ensemble The Thirteen performed an acclaimedLost Vespers reconstructed out of theSelva to evoke the Feast of St. John the Baptist, and leading to calls for future performances and recordings from Monteverdi's magnum opus.[12]
The first Magnificat for eight voices and instruments has been published asMagnificat a 8 voci con 6 vel 10 istromenti. It is set for double choir, two violins, four trombones, four viole da gamba (alternative combinations: 3 vga and 1 cello, or 2 and 2) and basso continuo. Its duration is given as 13 minutes.[15]
.jpg)
