The Galant Masters Project is a five-year endeavor intended to bring to light lost works of Galant-style liturgical music. This project seeks to edit and publish approximately one score per month with four corresponding Compact Disc recordings per year. Funding for this research is provided primarily through sales of our publications (print, recording, or both).
For this project, scores are selected with a focus on works that have not been published previously. The music is chosen from the significant composers of the mid-eighteenth century Neapolitan school, such as Baldassare Galuppi, Niccolò Jommelli, Leonardo Leo, Nicola Porpora, and others.
The goal of the Galant Masters Project is not only to add works to the repertoire, but also to educate performers, conductors, and teachers in this style. Our recordings are performed by Baroque-Classical specialists and our editors are among the foremost authorities on music of the Galant style. The "Performance Tools" section of this website website includes a constantly expanding educational and reference guide with a dedicated performance practice page for each piece published. In addition, members of our editorial staff are available for consultation via phone or email or for performance clinics, all to help ensembles gain the experience of an historically informed performance of this literature.
The scores for this project are prepared as critical performing editions. Full scores contain editorial commentary, both in narrative format and in the music, and revisions are incorporated in a clean and easily readable manner.
Performance materials are also available. Vocal scores include piano reductions or realized continuo keyboard parts, as appropriate. Additionally, two sets of instrumental parts are prepared for each score: a “standard” version for players familiar with early music performance practice and a “realized” version, instructing the players in how to ornament, embellish, and articulate in a stylistically appropriate manner. The realized parts also come pre-bowed by specialist string players.
Click here to browse and purchase scores.
At the heart of the Galant Masters Project is the recording component. Each score edited is performed by the Chicago Galant Consort. The recordings are produced by SoundByte Studios, an internationally recognized leader in choral and choral-orchestral recording.
The Chicago Galant Consort, an ensemble specially established for this project, draws together the finest early musicians in the Chicago area and throughout the United States.
Recordings are made available through standard commercial recording outlets, including Amazon.com and iTunes, but are also available directly through this website.
Thomas J. Tropp (Tropp Music Editions, Evanston, Illinois USA)
Managing Editor (research, manuscript selection and procurement, music editing, Chicago Galant Consort Music Director and Conductor, recording producer)
Elizabeth E. Doran (Tropp Music Editions, Evanston, Illinois USA)
Business Manager and Associate Editor (project marketing and management, music editing, preparation of orchestral reductions, Chicago Galant Consort Executive Director and Associate Music Director, executive producer for recordings)
Martin Davids (Chicago, Illinois USA)
String Editor (music editing, preparation of realized orchestral parts, Chicago Galant Consort Concertmaster)
Continuo Editors (music editing, preparation of continuo realizations)
Zalman Kelber (Oxford, UK)
Jason Moy
Contributing Editors
David Shaler (Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA)
Christopher Eanes (Cincinnati, Ohio USA)
| Composer | Title | Scoring | Length | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francesco Durante | Vespro Breve | SATB, continuo | 15’ | Available |
| Niccolo Jommelli | Magnificat a Quattro Concertata | SATB, continuo | 15’ | Available |
| Baldassare Galuppi | Domine ad adjuvandum me | 2 oboes, 2 corni, SATB, strings, continuo | 3’ | Available |
| Baldassare Galuppi | Laudate pueri | 2 oboes, 2 corni, 2 trumpets, SATB, strings, continuo | 20’ | Available |
| Leonardo Leo | Introito del Mercordi delle Ceneri | SATB, continuo | 8’ | Available |
| Leonardo Leo | Magnificat in C Minor | SSATB, strings, continuo | 15’ | Available |
| Leonardo Leo | Messa Completa | SATB, continuo | 15’ | Available |
| Leonardo Leo | Miserere | Double chorus, continuo | 10’ | Spring 2012 |
| Leonardo Leo | Missa a Più Voci | 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, SSATB, strings, continuo | 20’ | Available |
| Francesco Durante | Litanie a Quattro Voci | SATB, violins, continuo | 15’ | Autumn 2012 |
| Francesco Durante | Messa a Quattro Voci (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo) | 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, SATB, strings, continuo | 20’ | Autumn 2012 |
| Francesco Durante | Alma redemptoris | Basso solo, strings, continuo | 5’ | Autumn 2012 |
| Francesco Durante | Salve Regina | Basso solo, strings, continuo | 5’ | Autumn 2012 |
| Francesco Durante | Confitebor | Mezzo-soprano solo, strings, continuo | 15’ | Autumn 2012 |
| Baldassare Galuppi | In conveviendo Dominus | SATB, strings, continuo | 5’ | Winter 2012 |
| Baldassare Galuppi | Dixit a Quattro | 2 oboes, 2 corni, 2 trumpets, SATB, strings, continuo | 20’ | Winter 2012 |
| Baldassare Galuppi | Credidi propter | 2 trumpets, SATB, strings, continuo | 5’ | Winter 2012 |
| Baldassare Galuppi | Domine ad adjuvandum me | 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, SATB, strings, continuo | 5’ | Winter 2012 |
Vesper setting in five movements scored for two violins, SATB, and continuo.
The music of Francesco Durante is distinguished among his Neapolitan school contemporaries in one rather significant aspect: he composed no operas. The fact that his output is comprised almost exclusively of liturgical music and pedagogical pieces illuminates Durante’s reputation as one of the most influential and revered Galant maestri.
The history and context behind this Vesper set are unknown. No manuscript survives, and there is no record of a performance of the work during the composer’s lifetime. The primary source for this edition was a non-autograph manuscript copy in the hand of Giuseppe Sigismondo, which resides in the British Library.
The manuscript offers no instructions as to the performing forces to be used, but the style and texture make it suitable for either a quartet of vocal soloists or a full choir.
Materials available:
| Vespro breve | Orchestral score | $35.00 | Add | ||
| Vespro breve | Vocal Score | $8.00 | Add | ||
| Vespro breve | Standard part set | $20.00 | Add | *Includes one reproducible copy of each string part plus an unrealized continuo part. | |
| Vespro breve | Realized part set | $20.00 | Add | *Includes one reproducible copy of each string part plus a realized continuo part. | |
| Vespro breve | Recording - CD | $5.00 | Add |
Click to Purchase Individual Parts
| Vespro breve | Violino I | $8.00 | Add | ||
| Vespro breve | Violino II | $8.00 | Add | ||
| Vespro breve | Violoncello/Contrabasso | $8.00 | Add | ||
| Vespro breve | Organo (realized) | $10.00 | Add | ||
| Vespro breve | Continuo (unrealized) | $10.00 | Add |
Short setting (approximately three minutes) of the text Domine ad adjuvandum me festina, scored for soprano and mezzo soloists, SATB choir, two oboi, two corni, strings and continuo.
Born on the Venetian harbor island of Burano, Baldassare Galuppi was among the most important composers of eighteenth century opera seria. Although he lived and worked most of his life in Venice, he was well known and respected throughout Europe. He spent nearly two years in London from 1741 to 1742 supervising productions of at least eleven of his operas, and three years as a composer for the court of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg. Most of his sacred music, including this Domine ad adjuvandum, was written during his time as maestro di coro at San Marco in Venice.
Our edition’s source comes from a set of manuscripts preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris. The work couples well with a Laudate pueri from the same set, which is scored for identical forces also available from the Galant Masters Project.
Although scored for a full liturgical ensemble, our edition has been successfully performed by strings and organ alone. Additionally, the reduction in the vocal score may provide for suitable accompaniment on organ or piano.
Recording Available May 1, 2012
Materials available:
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Orchestral score | $25.00 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Vocal Score | $2.50 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Standard part set | $25.00 | Add | *Includes one reproducible copy of each string part plus an unrealized continuo part. | |
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Realized part set | $25.00 | Add | *Includes one reproducible copy of each string part plus a realized continuo part. |
Click to Purchase Individual Parts
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Oboe I | $5.00 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Oboe II | $5.00 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Corno I | $5.00 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Corno II | $5.00 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Violino I | $5.00 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Violino II | $5.00 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Viole | $5.00 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Violoncello/Contrabasso | $5.00 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Organo (realized) | $8.00 | Add | ||
| Domine ad adjuvandum me | Continuo (unrealized) | $8.00 | Add |
Magnificat setting in nine movements scored for SATB and continuo.
A trendsetting composer in the mid-eighteenth century, Niccolò Jommelli’s style is marked by an eclecticism that one might expect from a composer so well-traveled. He received his training in Naples and Bologna and lived and worked in Venice, Vienna, Rome, and Stuttgart. His most active period of sacred composition was in the early 1750s when he served as maestro coadiutore and later maestro di cappella of Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. This Magnificat almost definitely comes from that period.
Our edition was completed from a single source: an undated and unsigned copy residing in the British Library. The twenty-seven page manuscript is easily readable and was probably used in performance of the work as is evidenced by several markings in a different handwriting than that of the copyist.
Recording Available May 1, 2012
Materials available:
| Magnificat a quattro concertata | Realized score | $7.95 | Add | ||
| Magnificat a quattro concertata | Standard part set | $25.00 | Add | *includes cello/bass and unrealized continuo parts | |
| Magnificat a quattro concertata | Realized part set | $25.00 | Add | *includes cello/bass and realized organo parts | |
| Magnificat a quattro concertata | Colla parte string set | $30.00 | Add | *Violin I, II, Viola; doubling voice parts. | |
| Magnificat a quattro concertata | Realized organo part | $15.00 | Add |
Click to Purchase Individual Parts
| Magnificat a quattro concertata | Violoncello/Contrabasso | $10.00 | Add | ||
| Magnificat a quattro concertata | Organo (realized) | $15.00 | Add | ||
| Magnificat a quattro concertata | Continuo (unrealized) | $15.00 | Add |
Extended setting (approximately twenty minutes) of the Psalm 113, scored for soprano and mezzo soloists (there is also a very brief passage that includes a tenor solo), SATB choir, two oboi, two corni (replaced with trumpets in one movement), strings and continuo.
Born on the Venetian harbor island of Burano, Baldassare Galuppi was among the most important composers of eighteenth century opera seria. Although he lived and worked most of his life in Venice, he was well known and respected throughout Europe. He spent nearly two years in London from 1741 to 1742 supervising productions of at least eleven of his operas, and three years as a composer for the court of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg. Most of his sacred music, including this Laudate pueri, was written during his time as maestro di coro at San Marco in Venice.
Our edition's source comes from a set of manuscripts preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris. The work couples well with our Domine ad adjuvandum me edition from the same set, which uses identical forces.
Although scored for a full liturgical ensemble, the work could be performed with strings only. Additionally, the reduction in the vocal score may provide for suitable accompaniment on organ or piano.
Recording Available May 1, 2012
Materials available:
| Laudate pueri | Orchestral score | $60.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Vocal Score | $8.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Standard part set | $40.00 | Add | *Includes one reproducible copy of each string part plus an unrealized continuo part. | |
| Laudate pueri | Realized part set | $40.00 | Add | *Includes one reproducible copy of each string part plus a realized continuo part. |
Click to Purchase Individual Parts
| Laudate pueri | Oboe I | $6.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Oboe II | $6.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Corni | $4.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Clarani | $4.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Violin I | $12.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Violin II | $12.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Viole | $12.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Bassi (Violoncello/Contrabasso) | $12.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Organo (realized) | $24.00 | Add | ||
| Laudate pueri | Continuo (unrealized) | $18.00 | Add |
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