Durante continued this tradition with a series of vocal works that he assigned to the category of the »Pastorale« in order to indicate their relation to the Feast of Christmas and to the shepherds in the field and in the manger. On Vol.2 of his Neapolitan Christmas music one of these pieces is represented by the pastorale Cito Pastores, a charming Latin motet for four voices, strings, and organ continuo. Here Durante skillfully enhances the expressive spectrum of the pastoral style and its Christmas spirit with dissonances and harmonic shadings. His psalm settings sometimes exhibit a lighter, frequently sweeter style as well as new artistic goals and intentions, and his Litanie à due voci con violini in E minor is an enchantingly intimate and heartfelt setting of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin.

Muziekfragment: Cum Santo Spiritù

DURANTE, FRANCESCO (1684-1755)
• Pastorale "Cito Pastores" (arr. Luna Oda)1.Chorus 'Cito Pastores' (Tutti) 8:11
• 2.Recitative 'O sapientia eterna de corde Altissimi emanatal 0:52
• 3.Aria 'Quam beata nostro vita quae dignitas est videre' 6:22
• 4.Recitative 'Exulta filia Sion' 0:43
• 5.Duet 'Adoramus te' 2:49
• Laudate, pueri 'breve'6.Detto il Grottesco (arr. Luna Oda) 6:54
• Litanie à due voci con Violini7.Kyrie, eleison (arr. Michael Alexander Willens) 9:10
• Kyrie - Gloria Mass 'In Afflictionis tempore'8.Kyrei eleison 1:54
• 9.Christe eleison 2:09
• 10.Kyrie eleison 1:57
• 11.Gloria 3:49
• 12.Gratias 4:06
• 13.Domine Deus 3:20
• 14.Qui tollis 3:10
• 15.Qui tollis 3:44
• 16.Qui sedes 5:23
• 17.Quoniam 3:07
• 18.Cum Sancto Spiritù 2:37