Credits:

Stern

Description:

While he wrote famous recorded church music that showed the best of Italy's early keyboard art, using harpsichord and organ in different ways, Merlo, who was one year older than Lassus, wrote works that could be called the pioneers of Baroque music in the form of toccatas and ricercare. Studying under Tsarlino at St. Mark's Church in Venice, he composed many solo pieces that ushered in a new era. The Italian virtuoso Bonizzoni used an organ built in 1519, one of the oldest existing in the region, and a rare harpsichord from around 1600, and left behind a collection of Merlo's works that can be called a milestone. Long out of press, this is a disc that I hope will be widely heard. Naxos Japan