The corpus of sacred works by Claudio Monteverdi (Cremona, 1567 - Venice, 1643) first appeared with the Sacrae Cantiunculae tribus vocibus Liber Primus (1582) and the Madrigali Spirituali a quattro voci (1583; of this latter collection only the bass partbook is extant). These works date back to Monteverdi’s so-called Cremonese period (until 1590), when he was receiving his training under maestro Marcantonio Ingegneri, a fact acknowledged on the title pages of both collections.

Monteverdi’s ye...