 Les Laudi Spirituali sont des chants de prières et de dévotion issus de la tradition orale italienne. Ces chants vernaculaires sont souvent des mélodies originellement homophoniques basés sur un rythme régulier qui peuvent être chantés par un ou plusieurs interprètes avec ou sans accompagnement. Depuis les Laudario de Cortona et les Laudes de Jacopone da Todi (autour de 1225), cette tradition perdurera via la Contre-Réforme romaine (Filippo Neri) avec des musiciens espagnols tels que Victoria, Guerrero et ce Francisco Soto De Langa (1534-1619) dont le recueil de Laudes fait l'objet de cette publication inédite. Né dans la province de Soria, petit chanteur à la Cathédrale de Burgos, Soto de Langa rejoindra Rome pour intégrer le choeur de la Chapelle Sixtine en tant que castrat. Ne pouvant entrer dans les ordres, il fera une carrière de falsettiste puis deviendra dans les dernières années maestro di cappella. Effectif varié et variable dans ce programme, les six chanteurs se partagent les vingt Laudi du programme soutenu par un solide groupe d'instruments : violons, viole de gambe, guitare, théorbe, harpe, orgue et percussions. Tout cela marque autant un souci d'authenticité qu'une recherche de pittoresque musical bien légitime. La diversité des formes évoque plus d'une fois le Rappresentatione di Anima di Corpo, l'œuvre de Cavalieri (1600) cité non sans raison dans la notice comme probable développement du genre. Hélas privé des textes, l'auditeur pourra se satisfaire de l'interprétation parfaitement idiomatique de la Capilla Musical de la Iglesia Nacional Espagnola de Roma. (Jérôme Angouillant) World premiere recordings of sacred songs and popular hymns from late 16th-century Rome, reviving the work of a forgotten Spanish composer within the rich tradition of laude spirituali. The lauda spirituale is a song of praise designed for congregational singing which arose in medieval Italy, cast in the local language rather than the liturgical language of Latin. St. Francis of Assisi and Jacopone di Todi are the most famous authors of texts which were set as laude spiritual by now-anonymous monk-musicians. Born in the Duero region of Spain in 1534, Francisco Soto De Langa began his musical training as a treble at the Cathedral of Burgo de Osma before travelling to Rome, where he joined the Sistine Chapel Choir in June 1562: Soto was the first castrato to join its ranks. June 1562: Soto was the first castrato to join its rank. He would go on to sing with the Choir for 49 years – until 1611 – for the last five of which he served as maestro di cappella. In Rome, he soon encountered St. Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorian church. It was for Neri that Soto composed and arranged the laude spirituali on this album. By this point, the tradition of vernacular hymn singing had evolved from unaccompanied, unison singing to be elaborated with harmony, simple polyphony and instrumental accompaniment. Soto the composer did not write in the refined polyphonic style of Palestrina, his colleague at the Sistine Chapel: these songs and hymns are still fundamentally popular and accessible in character. To mark the 400th anniversary of Soto’s death in Rome in 1619, the Spanish Church in Rome conceived and realized this project to record a collection of his many surviving hymns, in both Spanish and Italian. The singers are supported by a rich continuo ensemble of violin, theorbos, harp, viola da gamba, percussion and organ, lending colour and variety to the textures. The booklet to this enlightening new release includes an introduction to the history of laude spirituale, the career of Francisco Soto De Langa, and sung texts.
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