La Monteverde
Canzon Vigesimaterza in organo
This must be the only instrumental piece from this time in 13 parts.
This Canzona is taken from Canzoni da suonare di Pietro Lappi / Maestro della Musica di S. Maria della Gratie di Brescia À 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. & 13. / Libro Primo… Opera Nona, published by Gardano of Venice in 1618. As can be seen from this, Lappi is careful to provide pieces for a great number of different groupings. The meaning of the “in organo” in the title of the present piece is not entirely clear (no other piece in his collection bears this description). The rather narrow range of the parts means that in theory all the voices in each choir will fit on a single keyboard, so the piece may have been intended for three organs. It is more liely that the composer intended to have a separate coninuo organ in each choir, to enrich the texture. Another possibility is that the piece is designed so that it can be done with less than 13 melody instruments, given one or more organs to fill in. A peculiarity of some of the larger pieces in Lappi’s collection is the use of very high tessituras, that strongly suggest the use of string choirs, a likely scenario in his Brescia, then the leading centre for violin-making.
