# Sadest obscur barroque ever, for a desperated soul god forsaken



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

What are personal top ten please answer this one...


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Perhaps I have misundestood what you want, but from what I know, some not-so-popular baroque composers that I've discovered (quite recently) that I like are Thomas Arne, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Johann Joseph Fux, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and Jan Dimas Zelenka.


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

_Not obscure and not ten but sad and Baroque …
_
Tarquinio MERULA: Canzonetta Spirituale sopra alla nanna, "Hor ch'è tempo di dormire" (p. 1638)
:: Maria Cristina Kiehr, Christina Pluhar, Gebhard David [Ricercar '98] ~ 8½ minutes




:: Sara Mingardo, Rinaldo Alessandrini/Concerto Italiano [Naïve '04] ~ 8½ minutes





This gently relentless and uncomfortably numb lullaby/canzonetta consists of a melodic line floating pensively above a hypnotic ostinato bass of only two chords. The text/poem depicts the Virgin Mary lulling/rocking the baby Jesus to sleep while she reveals and laments the suffering, the Passion, that is to come-she has foreknowledge of the events as if she were "remembering" them in a waking dream … it's a _wee_ bit creepy. About a minute and a half from the end, Mary snaps out of it, as it were, and concludes with a sense of sad acceptance and quiet repose, consoling herself with the ultimate knowledge that "with smiling faces we shall meet in paradise." The song is as quietly affecting and mesmerizing as it is disturbing and haunting. (British folkies might have fleeting thoughts of Richard Thompson's "The End of the Rainbow" while reading the text and listening.)

Kiehr has a beautifully well-rounded soprano voice and gives a state-of-the-art early Baroque/HIP performance that perfectly serves her finely drawn and eerily convincing portrayal of Mary. Her instrumental accomplices play beautifully and generate just the right mood and atmosphere, and the well-produced recording does justice to the performance as a whole.

Mingardo has an unmitigated contralto voice with a dusky, somewhat countertenor_ish_ character, and she gives a plaintively dramatic Italianate performance that's a degree or two more operatic than what you get from Kiehr; it's an unusual but fascinating portrayal that commands your attention throughout. Concerto Italiano provides a discreet accompaniment that is as much about not distracting from Mingardo's singing as it is about contributing to the performance.

* * *

Henry PURCELL: "Thy hand, Belinda … When I am laid to earth" from _Dido & Aeneas_ (1680s)
:: Janet Baker, Anthony Lewis/English Chamber Orchestra [L'Oiseau-Lyre '61] ~ 5 minutes





Baker's devastating account of "When I am laid to earth" (aka "Dido's Lament") is one of those freakishly good outpourings that comes along maybe once in a lifetime.


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