In the first part of the 17th century Venice was by far the most influential city in Europe regarding music production. It is due to the fact that a new rising music style has found the perfect ground to grow here. The Venetian opera, the father of which was Claudio Monteverdi and later Francesco Cavalli, was being exported to several countries in Europe.
The tradition of church music was not less prominent in Venice. Both Monteverdi and Cavalli were maestri di capella in the St. Mark’s Basilica, later also Giovanni Legrenzi took this position. These three composers together with Barbara Strozzi, who was Cavalli’s pupil, and Alessandro Grandi, who was one of Monteverdi’s assistants, are the composers of vocal Venetian music in this program. The instrumental music of the time from Venice is represented by composers Dario Castello, Biagio Marini and Giuseppe Scarani, who were the responsible for the revolution of the stile moderno, the modern style of concertato instrumental music.
Venetia Mundi Splendor is a sample of the exuberance and sophistication of vocal and instrumental Venetian sacred music from the seicento.
