Consonarte, a new publishing enterprise, seeks to renew appreciation for the vocal chamber repertoire: a vast – often disregarded, even forgotten – musical patrimony that constitutes a splendid legacy of Italian musical history, and one not to be overlooked. Entire cycles of Arias, Romanze, Melodies, Nocturnes, Ballads, Elegies, Madrigals, Short Poems for voice and pianoforte, as well as Cantatas
(with pianoforte or small groups of instruments) are almost completely unknown to today’s performers. Undoubtedly the difficulty of obtaining scores has been a disadvantage, and, even more so, a kind of widespread unawareness of the very existence of an Italian vocal chamber music heritage – excepting those works in which the great composers famously proved themselves. These are the considerations that have prompted Anna Bonitatibus, initiator and overseer of this publishing project, with the support of a group of expert musicologists, musicians and researchers, to undertake the long and patient work of identifying and reorganizing the huge abundance of surviving musical materials, in the hope that this form of expression, in its specifically Italian identity, might once more occupy a favoured position within today’s performance activities, whether of a concert nature, or in a private or didactic context. In fulfilment of this objective, the common factor that applies to every volume is fidelity to the original sources, subjected to careful critical examination, supported by an apparatus rich in historical and stylistic information.
