Vocem Iucunditatis

Giovanni Battista Riccio lived in Venice at a time when the city's music scene was dominated by renowned personalities such as Monteverdi and Gabrieli. Riccio gained aristocratic patrons and his three surviving collections of sacred music, which also contain instrumental compositions, testify to his reputation in the city and beyond. His music is fluent and varied, not least because of the liveliness of the motifs, the use of duple and triple meters, the painting of tones and the use of echo effects. His motets, which set passages from the Song of Solomon to music, offer an unusually expressive and refined depth.