One of the most delightful yet frustrating things about music of this period is that the players in the continuo (which could include any combination of harpsichord, bowed bass, lute, theorbo, harp, baroque guitar, organ…) were expected, like today's jazz and pop players, to know the rules of harmony and to be able to improvise from just the bass line. Sometimes the bass lines were figured, sometimes not. Strozzi's originals are very lightly figured. There are many possible readings, combinations of instruments, and interpretations, and we encourage you to experiment and work together with other musicians who study historic performance if you are new to singing and playing with basso continuo.
For more information on the features of our scores and the decisions behind them, please check out our Editorial Notes.
