Part one, Part two
Published: May 2005
On April 7, 2005, the first modern performance of a sacred work by the obscure Baroque organist and composer Giovanni Battista Beria (c. 1611-1671) was held in St. Mary’s Chapel. Boston College’s John J. Burns Library owns one of only two known copies of the complete set of five partbooks for Beria’s Concerti Musicali, published in Milan in 1650. The Boston College concert was based on transcriptions and translations of the work by a group of 11 music majors in a senior seminar taught by Professors Jeremiah McGrann and Ann Spinney, and was sponsored by the music department, the Jesuit Community, and the Jesuit Institute.
Concerti Musicali is performed by Susan Consoli, soprano; Mary Gerbi, alto; Ryan Turner, tenor; Mark McSweeney, bass; and Michael Sponseller, harpsichord continuo.
