Sixteen Bicinios, Volume 1

- Angelo Bertalotti / ed. Rev. Gabriel Iróffy

Use: General
Required Resources: 2-part choir
Language: Latin

This collection of two-part solfeggios is an homage to the composer and pedagogue, Angelo Bertalotti (1666-1747), who during most of his life, was connected with the School of the Order of Saint Joseph Calasanz (also known as the Piarist Fathers) in Bologna. A musician of sound contrapuntal training, he was responsible for the children's choir, and following a centuries-old tradition, wrote solfeggio exercises for his pupils.

The present work, in three volumes, makes practical the execution of some of those solfeggios. For that, liturgical texts in Latin are applied to the exercises, according to the characteristics of the respective melodies. For performance, there are several possibilities. The ideal would be, without doubt, to sing both voices a cappella, either SA or two-part mixed (ST). During the Renaissance and Baroque eras, it was common to use instruments (e.g. the viola da gamba) for the second voice, perhaps transposing it an octave lower.

These works are intended for use in church, as an integral part of the liturgy.

Contents of Volume 1 (from the Psalms) include:

1. O vos iusti – Sing for joy in the Lord, ye righteous; exult in God. Praise is fitting for the upright. Praise the Lord with joyful songs, alleluia. [Ps 33:1-3]
2. Domine, ad te levavi – To Thee, O Lord, I lift up my soul. Lord, I trust in Thee; do not let me be ashamed. Amen. [Ps 25:1-2]
3. Adiutorium nostrum – Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. [Ps 124:8]
4. Os justi meditabitur – The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. The law of God is in his heart. [Ps 37:30]
5. Iustus ut palma florebit – The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like a cedar of Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. [Ps 92:12-13]

Volume 2 (from the Mass) and Volume 3 (Marian and Advent antiphons) are also available.

Dom Gabriel Iróffy is Rector Emeritus of the Santo Américo Elementary and High School and Founder of the Eszterhaza Music School, both in São Paulo, Brazil.