Tantalising, though it undoubtedly is, to dream of discovering some of Monteverdi’s considerable lost treasure of sacred music, his admirers must content themselves with the sizeable body of work that survives. Chief amongst these glories is the Vespers of 1610, of which there have been countless performances and adaptations to liturgical circumstances.

As celebrated French lutenist Vincent Dumestre rightly points out, Monteverdi would have arranged hundreds of such services in honour of the Virgin Mary over his lengthy career, and his purpose in publishing the 1610 collection was not necessarily to provide musicians with a “one-stop shop”, but rather to offer them resources that could be performed with other works.

In imagining another Monteverdi Vespers that may have taken place in the last year of the composer’s life, Dumestre has drawn heavily on two collections: the monumental Selva morale e spirituali of 1641 and a posthumous 1650 volume of religious works. 

It is not known whether the title of the Selva (or “forest”) pays tribute to the “dark forest” mentioned at the start of Dante’s