Marcello's Estro Poetico-Armonico (Psalms of David), Venice, 1724

[Joel Bresler <jbresler...>]

Chevre,

I just bought a copy of Benedetto Marcello, Psaumes de David. K617 K617099. 
Jean-Christophe Frisch, conductor. France, 1999. It is evidently part of a 
series, "Les Chemins Hebraiques du Baroque" (more details welcome.) Various 
quotes from the CD booklet:

"In some of his psalms he incorporates synagogal melodies, written a 
capella, as in plainchant but from right to left as in Hebrew."

"We do not know if Marcello actually went to the synagogues himself to find 
the melodies that he used or whether he got them from the cantors...

...the success of his score transported throught XVIII the century Europe a 
few melodies sung in the synagogues of Venice."

The CD alternates between Hebrew chants and then the Marcello settings. 
Again per the booklet:

"By way of a prelude to the psalms by Marcello, we offer a revival of the 
music he could have heard in the synagogues. We have tried to imagine after 
listening to his works the songs which might have inspired him." (Joel's 
note: this sounds pretty conjectural to me...)

Of particular interest to me is the chant for Psalm 118, according to the 
booklet in "the intonation of the Spanish Jews." It is paired with 
Marcello's setting of Psalm 14.

My questions: Can any of the Marcello works be tied directly to synagogal 
melodies? Is there any known research on this with musical examples? Or is 
it as conjectural might seem here?

Thanks very much!!

Joel

P.S. Soprano Cyrille Gerstenhaber sounds like Ruth Wieder Magan to me in 
the cantillation, but that's another story.

www.cd-baroque.com
www.k617.com





Joel Bresler
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