Review

Sebastiano Festa
Two Renaissance Madrigals :

Arranged by Stan Pethel

Three tenor trombones, one bass trombone

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2016
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 4 trombones

 	
 Perchè quel che mi trasse. Sebastiano Festa 1490-1524. 2. Vrai deu d’amor. F. Patavino 1478-1556.

 

These composers were amongst the earliest madrigalists and little is known about them. The style of the pieces is simple, without syncopation, and marked by avoidance of wide intervals; apart from an octave, the largest in any part is a fifth. Some imitative counterpoint is used in the first 12 measures of Vrai deu; textures are otherwise largely homophonic. Both pieces are in the Aeolian (sixth) mode. The title of the first translates as What it is that draws me. The title of the second is usually given as Vrai dieu d’amours. The song tells of a young man who suffers greatly for love, and deu (pain) may well be correct. Patavino is variously recorded as Nicolo or Francesco Patavino or Francesco da Santa Croce; his date of birth is given as either 1478 or 1487.

 

Except for Andrea Gabrieli (1510-1586), this period is not well-represented in the trombone repertoire; this is a welcome addition. Scoring is for three tenor and one bass trombone. First part is given in tenor clef, range g-b-flat1, second in bass clef, d-a1. Ranges for third and fourth are d-e1 and F-d1, optional low D. There are no significant difficulties.

 

Stan Pethel is Professor Emeritus at Berry College near Rome, Georgia, where he served as Chair of Fine Arts 1994-2013. He has over 1300 works in print.