In seventeenth-century church music, features of the Renaissance tradition (polyphony, modality) coexisted with elements of Baroque innovation (harmony, tonality) and merged into the concertato style. The Salmi Concertati op. II by Father Francesco Antonio Urio included in this Vespers dedicated to the Virgin, follow this transformation with full rights. The Vesprus, here in it's first modern performance ever, shows vocal pieces for three voices of rare melodic quality where the imitative style, the counterpoint, the modal harmony, the numerous tempo changes, the various melismata and a number of diminutions reveal remarkable compositional ability.
