Cum Dederit (from Nisi Dominus RV 608)
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)
Collegium 1704 · Václav Luks
Lucile Richardot · mezzo-soprano
2017 Church of Sts. Simon and Jude, Prague
Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum,
Ecce haereditas Domini, filii:
Merces, fructus ventris,
Fructus ventris.
Mirabile Mysterium
℗ 2007 Challenge Classics
Quae Stella Sole Pulchrior
Anonymous
Netherlands Chamber Choir · Paul Van Nevel
Quae stella sole pulchrior
Coruscat? haec Regis novi
Revelat ortus: haec Dei
Praesignat ad cunas iter.
Stat vatibus priscis fides;
En stella surgit ex Jacob;
Arrectus ad spectaculum
Eous orbis emicat.
Dum sidus admonet foris,
Lux fulget intus clarior;
Suadetque vi blanda magos
Signi datorem quaerere.
Segnes amor nescit moras:
Labor, pericla, nil movent:
Domum, propinquos, patriam,
Deo vocante, deserunt.
Micante dum nos allicis,
O Christe, stella gratiae;
Ne tarda coelesti sinas
Obstare corda lumini.
Qui lumen est, sit laus Patri;
Qui se revelat gentibus,
Sit laus perennis Filio:
Par sit tibi laus, Spiritus.
Amen.
The CD cover is an image of the painting “Man in armour with a squire” by Giorgione (1473/1474 – 1510). It belongs to the collection of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Theodora, HWV 68
Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 – 1759)
℗ 2000 Deutsche Grammophon
Act III: No. 71, Chorus of Christians. O Love Divine
Gabrieli Consort & Players · Paul McCreesh
O love divine, thou source of fame,
Of glory, and all joy,
Let equal fire our souls inflame,
And equal zeal employ:
That we the glorious spring may know,
Whose streams appeared so bright below.
Church Songs, Op. 84
Henryk Górecki (1933 – 2010)
℗ 2023 Ondine
Beati qui eligunt Joseph
Polski Chór Kameralny · Jan Łukaszewski
Here is the link to a comprehensive recording of the oratorio with slightly better video quality. The aria “Per il mare del pianto mio” begins at 48:08.
Per il mar del pianto mio
Antonio Caldara (ca 1670 – 1736)
Collegium Marianum · Jana Semerádová
Hana Blažíková · soprano
2010 St. Wenceslas Music Festival, Ostrava
Per il mar del pianto mio
Disprezzar saprò le pene.
Se, Gesù, sei la mia stella,
a te umilio il mio desio,
al tuo piè son mie catene.
Church Songs, Op. 84
Henryk Górecki (1933 – 2010)
℗ 2023 Ondine
Beati qui eligunt Joseph
Polski Chór Kameralny · Jan Łukaszewski
Offesi, il veggo, il so
Georg Reutter (1708 – 1772)
Leopoldo de Villati · libretto
Le Filigrane
Offesi, il veggo, il so,
Chi tanto ognor mi amò.
Pietà, pietà, pietà ò buon Dio.
Tu, che il mio ben sol vuoi,
E tu, che tanto puoi,
Perdona il fallo mio.
2022 Alte Stadtkirche Schopfheim, Germany
Offesi, il veggo, il so
Georg Reutter (1708 – 1772)
Leopoldo de Villati · libretto
Le Filigrane
Offesi, il veggo, il so,
Chi tanto ognor mi amò.
Pietà, pietà, pietà ò buon Dio.
Tu, che il mio ben sol vuoi,
E tu, che tanto puoi,
Perdona il fallo mio.
2022 Alte Stadtkirche Schopfheim, Germany
Finally, two interesting links.
The first link refers to an interview with Laurie Stras in the Guardian.
The second link is a YouTube video in which Laurie Stras elaborates on her research and introduces the CD.
The CD cover shows a detail (in mirror image) from Pinturicchio's fresco “The Dispute of Saint Catherine of Alexandria”. We see Lucrezia Borgia, the mother of the alleged composer Leonora d'Este.
Pinturicchio was fond of a bit of theater. Triumphal arches in the style of Constantine the Great, Lucrezia Borgia as the model for the eloquent Caterina and her brother Cesare on the throne of Maximinus Daia, the Roman governor of Egypt.
The fresco is in Vatican Museums, Borgia Apartment, Room of the Saints.
The CD cover is a detail from “Penitent Magdalene” a painting created by Titian (c. 1488/90 – 1576). It is now in Palazzo Pitti, Florence.
The CD cover is a detail from “Les Yeux clos”, a painting created by Odilon Redon (1840 – 1916).
It is now in Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
The CD cover shows the interior with pillars and ribbed vaults in the nave of Barcelona Cathedral. This is not surprising, given that the composer was “mestre de capella” here for a long time.
The CD cover is a detail from “The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs”, a painting created by Georges de La Tour (1593 – 1652). It is now in the Kimbell Art Museum, Forth Worth, Texas.
Armonico tributo
Georg Muffat (1653 – 1704)
℗ 2019 Pan Classics
Sonata No. 5: I. Allemande - Grave
Ars Antiqua Austria · Gunar Letzbor
The CD cover is a detail from “Apollo and Daphne”, a painting created by René-Antoine Houasse (1645 – 1710). It is now in the Palace of Versailles, Paris. 
Apollo & Dafne
Carl Heinrich Graun (1704 – 1759)
℗ 2019 Accent
Apollo amante di Dafne: II. Tu sarai mio caro alloro
Main-Barockorchester Frankfurt
Hannah Morrison · soprano
tu sarai mio caro alloro:
al tuo piede il mio martoro
sul mio labbro flebilmente
udirai a risonar.
tu l’accogli dolcemente,
e a te zefiro in mercede
lieve lieve il casto piede,
venga ogn’ora per baciar.
Mapa Armónico Práctico 1742
Francesc Valls (1665/1671 – 1747)
℗ 2025 MDG
Domine vim patior
Ensemble BachWerkVokal · Gordon Safari
Domine, vim patior: responde pro me.
Quid dicam, aut quid respondebit mihi,
cum ipse fecerit?
Gloria & Motets
Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963)
℗ 2008 Hyperion
Salve regina, FP 110
Polyphony · Stephen Layton
Salve regina, mater misericordiae.
Vita dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus, exsules, filii Evae.
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes,
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia ergo, advocata nostra,
illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.
Et Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende,
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.
Agnus Dei
Samuel Barber (1910 – 1981)
Voktett Hannover & VOCES8
2022 Markuskirche, Hanover
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem
'Canta la Maddalena'
℗ 2009 harmonia mundi
Gloria
Giovanni Battista Agneletti (fl. 1656 – 1673)
Concerto Soave · Jean-Marc Aymes
María Cristina Kiehr · soprano
Gloria Patri, et Filio,
et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper,
et in saecula saeculorum.
Amen.
Ode for St. Cecilia's Day
Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 – 1759)
℗ 1986 Deutsche Grammophon
But oh! What Art can Teach
The English Concert · Trevor Pinnock
Felicity Lott · soprano
But oh, what art can teach,
What human voice can reach
The sacred organ's praise?
Notes inspiring holy love,
Notes that wing their heav'nly ways
To join the choirs above.