Choosing the psalm verse Laudate Pueri Dominum as the title for this album did not come about by chance. These words (Praise the Lord, ye boys) very aptly characterise the activity and mission of the Piarist Order, which in the 17th and 18th centuries took care of boys from humble backgrounds in the Czech lands. The Piarists meticulously attended to liturgical music and the boys had participation in music included in their “job description”. By inviting the Pueri Gaudentes boys’ choir to make the recording, we aim to familiarise today’s listener with the sound and timbre characteristic of the music produced by the Piarists in this period. Robert Hugo, a specialist in Baroque Music, prepared for the album a repertoire which, according to the preserved inventory, was performed in the 17th century at the chapel of the Piarist Gymnasium in Slaný, where – some 350 years after the College was founded (1658) – this unique recording also originated. Capella Regia and outstanding young soloists present to us the majority of the pieces in a modern-day premiere. It seems that we owe a great deal to Czech Baroque composers (case in point being J. C. F. Fischer and J. F. Richter). Let this energy-charged album be one of our repayments.
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer
1. Litaniae Beatae Marie Virginis 06:47
Antonín Maschat
Jubilate apparenti Domino
2. Jubilate apparenti Domino 03:02
3. Tu clara lux 05:03
4. Salvator mundi I 01:57
5. Salvator mundi II 02:37
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer
6. Praeludium in C (Ariadne musica) 00:46
Vojtěch Pelikán
Missa Sancti Adalberti
7. Kyrie 05:30
8. Gloria 05:38
9. Credo 06:59
10. Sanctus 02:19
11. Agnus Dei 03:29
Jan Offner
12. Alma Redemptoris Mater 02:16
Gregorian chant
13. Antiphona Cum esset Rex 00:31
Johann Ferdinand Richter
14. Dixit Dominus (Psalmus 109) 07:50
Gregorian chan
15. Antiphona Leva eius 00:23
Johann Ferdinand Richter
16. Laudate Pueri Dominum (Psalmus 112) 06:21
Gregorian chan
17. Antiphona Beata Dei genitrix (Magnificat) 00:45
Johann Ferdinand Richter
Magnificat
18. Magnificat 01:07
19. Quia respexit 01:50
20. Quia fecit mihi magna 01:02
21. Fecit potentiam 03:09
22. Deposuit 01:41
23. Esurientes 02:09
24. Gloria Patri 00:39
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer
25. Salve Regina 05:29