In August 2024 Michael Talbot identified as compositions by the Venetian monk and composer Diogenio Bigaglia eight anonymous motets for voice (soprano or contralto), solo violin and basso continuo contained in an album of music for that combination compiled in 1739 for the young Bavarian duchess Maria Antonia Walpurgis (herself on the way to achieving fame as a singer, harpsichordist and, especially, composer). Bigaglia had established a connection to the Bavarian court in Munich as early as 1713, when Maria Antonia’s grandmother, Therese Kunigunde Sobieska, then living in temporary exile in Venice, obtained copies of cantatas by him. These expansive motets, which test the ability of singer and violinist alike, are remarkable for their musical eloquence and inventiveness. They display the same fine sense of line and imaginative treatment of musical structure as his chamber duets (published earlier by Edition HH), with the important difference that the contrast between the timbres and technical capabilities of the two upper parts can here be fruitfully exploited.

Michael Talbot’s editions of the motets include commentaries on their Latin texts, for which line-by-line English translations are supplied, and add or supplement the bass figures of the continuo part as an aid to those intending to improvise an accompaniment. A specimen continuo realization for chamber organ or harpsichord is provided for the use of those who prefer to play ‘from the notes’.

 Music example (pdf)