Morpheus was the Greek god of dreams. His father Hypnos was the god of sleep. Morpheus was able to transform himself into the likeness of any human being and most often appeared in dreams as the sleeper’s beloved. Orpheus was another Greek mythological figure and was one of the most renowned of the singers and poets of Antiquity; he was also regarded as one of the gods of music. Girolamo Frescobaldi brought his two volumes of Arie Musicali to publication in Florence in 1630 and distanced himself from Caccini’s purely narrative madrigals by so doing.

Frescobaldi brought together secular sonnets, sacred madrigals, recitatives, arias and ensembles in every possible style; it is this immense variety above all else that makes a recording of the complete Arie Musicali so exciting and challenging.