Related topic: Compline as sung last night at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Columbus was exquisite.

This week’s Musica Sacra features the Te Deum, a mass by Pergolesi and

Roberto Sierra

an intriguing new cd: Jewish Baroque Music  Italy performed by the Ensemble Salomone Rossi.  Rossi  (1567-1628) was nearly an exact contemporary of Monteverdi’s,  and like his great colleague was born in Mantua.  Other composers on this cd are Cristiano (!) Giuseppe Lidarti (1730-1995) and the Venetian Carlo Grossi (1634-1688).  Here’s a selection from Grossi’s Cantata ebraica-we’ll hear the complete work on October 11th:

The cd is called Jewish Baroque Music, performed by the Ensemble Salamone Rossi on the Concerto label.

Also next Sunday we’ll hear selections from the Missa Latina Pro Pace by Roberto Sierra. I’m a big fan of Sierra’s music. He’s on the faculty at Cornell, and has visited Columbus several times for performances of his works by the Columbus Symphony and ProMusica. His Fandango for Orchestra will be  played by the Columbus Symphony January 22 and 23, conducted by Andreas Delfs. The Miss Latina Pro Pace was commissioned by the National Symphony in Washington.  Sierra writes

“The concept of my Missa Latina came directly out of my experience growing up as a Catholic in Puerto Rico. I still recall vividly hearing the Mass in Latin in my hometown when I was a child.  These memories created a strong impression-one that has only deepened over the years, a sense of mystery combined with power and compassion in hearing Gregorian chant intoned by the priest in a ritual involving this “dead” language.”

Here’s some of the Sanctus from Roberto Sierra’s Missa Latina Pro Pace‘, with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Andreas Delfs. The soloists are Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano and Nathaniel Webster, baritone. The cd is Naxos 8.559624

Join me Sunday Oct 11 at 8 pm on 89-7 FM (www.wosu.org) for more! Musica Sacra presents two hours of sacred choral music every Sunday night at 8 .

–Christopher Purdy