Today Monteverdi's Selva morale et spirituale (1641) stands entirely in the shadow of his famous Vespers 1610. The editions from 1610 and 1641 both include music for the Mass and Vespers, but each of these collections was composed under much different circumstances during Monteverdi's lifetime. If the works of 1610 are a bold combination of traditional compositional techniques and avant garde music, which were intended by this weary Court Composer at Mantua as an application portfolio for a new job, the 1641 collection is the only church music by the mature Monteverdi which was published after almost thirty years in his position as Music Director of St. Mark's Cathedral: the latter,a kind of “best of” collection from his many years of experience as a church musician. In Venice the composer had not only a fabulous, but a large ensemble at his disposal (finally, about 35 singers, alone)! The big effect in this music is the combination of soloistic and weighty tutti sections, it makes the music, with its clearly defined sections and, for the most part homophonic choral passages more easily performable than the Vespers for today's choirs. The new edition, comprised initially of three volumes, also includes those works from the Selva Morale (a Mass and two Magnificats) which have already been published by Carus, as well as all further liturgical compositions for use in the church. Salmi II contains the additional settings of the multiple settings of the psalms and also the psalm "Memento" (each of the first of the multiple settings of the psalms are to be found in the Salmi I volume).
