A Dramatic Early Baroque Oratorio and a Twelve-Voice Mass

Crescendo Vocal Ensemble, Pablo Bustos - Jephte, Christina Kay - Filia, Douglas Williams - Historicus, Soloists, and Period Instrument Ensemble, directed by Christine Gevert.

The Italian composer Giacomo Carissimi – who continued Claudio Monteverdi’s legacy of dramatic vocal music – tells the story of a human tragedy in one of the first oratorios, Jephte. The Israelite general Jephte and his people celebrate a great military victory, and then sink into despair over the loss of Jephte’s beloved daughter.
Carissimi’s twelve-voice mass of the Early Baroque is based on the famous medieval folk tune “The Armed Man.” It is the last of more than 40 masses composed on this tune over 170 years, and also the one with the largest cast.