Accent Records Ratis: Dialoghi Con L'angelo - Dramatic Cantatas & Popular Songs

There was a rumor that the Passacalli della Vita - a genuine hit in the early music scene - was not an original composition from the 17th century at all, but the work of a present-day musician. Lutenist and conductor Michael Ducker obtained a copy of the printed edition containing the song and discovered that not only was the aria original, there were other musical treasures in the collection as well.

Organist Francesco Ratis had compiled numerous popular songs and provided them with spiritual texts. The aim of this music was to convert listeners with catchy melodies set to dialect texts, thereby encouraging them to be pious. The most exciting and interesting item in the collection is a type of miniature oratorio.

It consists of four dialogues featuring angels and demons who confront personified figures such as the soul, the world, the conscience and the body. Through richly-colored instrumentation, the Ensemble Nuovo Aspetto is able to bring out the various characters in a particularly vivid manner.