Pietro Paolo Raimondo (after 1578-1647) Pietro Paolo Raimondo – Libro de Sonate diverse Libro de Sonate diverse The Lake Como, literary place for excellence in the first half of the seventeenth century, tells us in this recording an extraordinary musical history. In a “branch” of 1. Toccata 1’20 13. Corrente francese 1’17 that lake, precisely in the city that gives to him the name, an obscure lord compiles a 2. Ricercata 1’22 14. Toccata di Fil manuscript of lute music that came to us: it is Pietro Paolo Raimondo, noble of Como. 3. Gagliarda del Cavagliero (Filippo Piccinini?) 1’24 The manuscript 1.1.20 of the Biblioteca Civica of Como represents one of the most (Vincenzo Pinti) 1’57 15. Fuga (Francesco da Milano) 3’27 important sources for the literature of lute between the 16th and 17th centuries and it’s 4. Fantasia (Lorenzo Tracetti) 3’14 16. Volta 1’14 traditionally referred as Raimondi manuscript, by the name of its main extensor. 5. Corrente francese 1’33 17. Fuga 1’11 Pietro Paolo Raimondo (or Raimondi as often it finds in the papers) writes in 6. Brandle 1’19 18. Gagliarda 1’47 fact his name in the first pages of the notebook and adds the date of July 1, 1601. 7. Casandra 1’54 19. Toccata 2’06 The figure of this notable of Como is still quite fragmentary, but in any case secure 8. Vestiva i colli (Giovanni 20. Fuga 1’01 information are known. Son of Pirro Raimondi and of Costanza Volpi di Defendente, Pierluigi da Palestrina) 3’44 21. Volta 1’29 Pietro Paolo was a prominent figure in the city so much that he had to occupy the 9. Entrata per la mano – Balletto 2’20 22. Susanna del Cavagliere decurione charge since 1630, an important place in the town administration. We 10. Toccata con una fuga 1’44 (Vincenzo Pinti) 5’14 know for sure his membership in the Accademia dei Larii, a cultural cenacle founded 11. Fuga (Francesco da Milano) 3’08 23. Paganina 1’32 in Como in 1560 that brought together important city personalities with the purpose 12. Preludio (Lorenzo Tracetti) 1’30 24. Gagliarda 2’00 of creating “songs, prayers, poems, companies, readings of sacred theology and similar other virtuous retentions”. In this context, the activity of Pietro Paolo as a lutenist is well integrated, with its non-professional character but certainly of a level Domenico Cerasani lute that allows him to execute the fine repertoire of his manuscript. Here we find in 8-course lute by Matteo Baldinelli, Assisi 2013 fact all the most popular genres of that period, along with pieces that have steadily entered the repertoire. So, alongside a rich series of dances of different characters, mostly of anonymous authors, we find some fantasias by Francesco da Milano and Lorenzino del Liuto, or intabulations of vocal works such as the famous Vestiva i colli and Susanne ung jour. That’s about 69 pieces that, like a mosaic tiles, give us a unique musical image. This recording is therefore only a personal selection of the performer, far from exhaustive but certainly representative of the contents of the manuscript. Precious object of study, the Raimondi manuscript allows us to enter into the lute habitual practice of a high-level amateur of the time, embellishing a first-hand version of the cultured music world of the seventeenth-century Italy. Lute lived at that time
Recording: December 2016, Lo Studio Spaziale, Bologna, Italy