Polani: Six Chamber Cantatas for Solo Voice

The six cantatas included in this edition are the sole surviving compositions of Girolamo Polani. Born in the Venetian state ca. 1670, Polani joined the cappella of San Marco, Venice, in 1689 as a soprano. Between 1700 and 1717 he was also active as a composer for the Venetian stage, once crossing swords with Vivaldi. In 1717 he came to Britain, where he remained—or at least stayed for long periods—during the rest of his poorly documented life. He was in the service of Lady Grisell Baillie as a music master in 1735–36. It was in Britain around the same time that he produced his cantatas: a set of six concise scores for soprano and continuo preserved in the British Library. These remarkably fine works, which manage to combine galant elements with traditional counterpoint in an original way, are testimonies to the Indian summer that the Italian chamber cantata enjoyed on British soil during the period of Handel’s operas.

1. Vaghe rose, aprite il seno

2. Se ti piace di farmi morire

3. Dolente e mesta

4. Lasciami un sol momento

5. Verrà un dì che la mia bella

6. Era meglio lasciarmi morire