WEEP & REJOICE: Music for Holy W rom the Convents of 17th Century Italy, [CD de audio] Cappella Artemisia, Candace Smith and

This disc brings together a collection of vocal works from 17thcentury Italian convents music that is given another dimension thanks to the fact that its primary function was to aid worship. Led by the liturgy, the pieces were often based on prayers of celebration or lamentation, both of which feature prominently in the emotional rollercoaster that is Holy Week (the last week of Lent and the last week before Easter).The works in this collection were written by a variety of composers some dedicating theircompositions to the nuns (incidentally, one of the most fascinating mysteries surrounding convent repertoire is the fact that these pieces often contain parts for tenor and bass voices the nuns often resorted to numerous solutions to supplant the lack of male voices, including transposition of lower voices or entire piecesor the use of instruments) and numerous pieces written by the nuns themselves such as Rosa Giacinta Badallas affecting Silentio.Several of the works combine voices wit