Antiphons in praise of the virgin Mary and other religious musical settings of the early baroque period.

Throughout the centuries many religious texts have been set to music. Of great importance are texts in praise of the virgin Mary. The Swiss ensemble for ancient music, il desiderio, has chosen as its task, to familiarize music from the Early Baroque for today’s audience. The joy in this music with its virtuosity and sensuality has led “il desiderio” to put an emphasis on religious music for solo voice accompanied by various instruments.

Together with the soprano Regula Konrad, il desiderio performs seldomly-heard musical settings in praise of the virgin Mary such as the ‘Salve Regina’ by the Italian composers Claudio Monteverdi and Alessandro Grandi or the ‘Purissima virgo’ by the Swiss composer Johann Melchior Glete. The ensemble “il desiderio” with its instrumental music of the Early Baroque (Dario Castello, Giovanni Picchi, Adam Jarzebsky) wants to bridge the gap between the Italian, Swiss and Czechoslovacian settings of spiritual texts for soprano and instruments.