The first complete recording of a colourful collection of keyboard dances from early 17th-century Italy.

What we know of Giovanni Antonio Cangiasi (?–c.1614) is restricted to the publication details of his surviving music. Four collections of sacred works were published between 1590 and 1612, and there followed, in 1614, this sole extant example of his keyboard music. He lived as a Franciscan friar in Milan, and dedicated this volume of Scherzi forastieri to ‘the most noble community of Castelnuovo di Scrivia’, referring to a comune in Piedmont now encompassed by the town of Alessandria, 70km southeast of Milan; perhaps this was his birthplace.

The Scherzi forastieri belong to a tradition of instrumental canzone composed in northern Italy around the turn of the 17th century (later elaborated by Frescobaldi and others).

The 21 pieces in the collection present a remarkable formal variety, ranging from a straightforward A-B form (found in La Guerra and La Capitania) to more complex structures encompassing high contrasts (such as La Bassa and La Torta). Despite their brevity, such works resemble liturgical motets and madrigals, in so far as they seem to set an invisible or unheard text. The titles themselves imply an illustrative context in the mould of French-Baroque livres de clavecin, depicting La Marina, La Stella and La Consigliata.

The Scherzi forastieri have attracted ensemble arrangements in the modern era, but Federico Del Sordo returns these pieces to their original context by performing them on a lively mixture of keyboard instruments chosen for each work according to their particular character.

The harpsichord and clavichord are modern Italian copies of 17th-century instruments, while the organ was originally built in 1759 by Luca d’Onofrio for the Cathedral in Trivento.

Del Sordo has a track record of success in recording such little-known repertoire for Brilliant Classics. Reviewing his album of ricercari by Graziadio Antegnati, the Fanfare reviewer wrote: ‘The performances… are fully satisfying in every way and well recorded…This disc is yet another in the commendable line of Italian Renaissance and Baroque organ music releases that Brilliant has seen fit to issue. Cordially recommended, with hopes for yet more like this to come.’