GIOVANNI BATTISTA BASSANI (before 1647-1716): La tromba della divina misericordia, Trio Sonata, Op. 5/8, Toccata for Organ.

Description: Unlike the short, secular cantatas on pastoral love which we offered back in January of 2008, this larger-scale (42 minutes) work, written in 1676 prior to any of Bassani's published works, is a cantata morale. Using texts from Dante, Petrarch and St. Paul, its purpose is to encourage people to care for unburied bodies (apparently a very real need at the time!) and, thus, save their souls from eternal Purgatory. Soul(s), God, Angel(s) and Narrator do their dramatic best. Italian-English texts. Anna Bessi (mezzo), Elena Carzaniga (contralto), Paolo Borgonovo (tenor), Gianluca Buratto (bass), Ensemble Vocale Magnificat, Ensemble StilModerno.