The first complete recording of a colorful collection of piano dances from early 17th century Italy.

What we know about Giovanni Antonio Cangiasi (? - ca. 1614) is limited to the publication details of his surviving music. Four collections of sacred works appeared between 1590 and 1612, followed by this single surviving example of his keyboard music in 1614. He lived as a Franciscan monk in Milan and dedicated this volume of Scherzi forastieri to the "most noble community of Castelnuovo di Scrivia", a community in Piedmont which today belongs to the city of Alessandria, 70 km south-east of Milan; this was possibly his birthplace.

The Scherzi forastieri belong to a tradition of instrumental canzonas composed around the turn of the 17th century in northern Italy (later developed further by Frescobaldi and others).

The 21 pieces in the collection display a remarkable formal variety, ranging from a straightforward A-B form (as in La Guerra and La Capitania) to more complex structures with strong contrasts (such as La Bassa and La Torta). Despite their brevity, these works resemble liturgical motets and madrigals in that they seem to set an unseen or unheard text to music. The titles themselves imply an illustrative context along the lines of French Baroque clavecin livres and represent La Marina, La Stella and La Consigliata.

The Scherzi forastieri were chosen in modern times for ensemble arrangements, but Federico Del Sordo returns these pieces to their original context by performing them on a lively mixture of keyboard instruments chosen for each work according to their particular character.

The harpsichord and clavichord are modern Italian copies of 17th century instruments, while the organ was originally built in 1759 by Luca d'Onofrio for the Cathedral of Trivento. Del Sordo can look back on a successful recording of this little-known repertoire for Brilliant Classics. In his review of his album of ricercari by Graziadio Antegnati, the Fanfare reviewer wrote: "The performances ... are satisfying in every respect and well recorded ... This CD is another in the commendable series of Italian Renaissance and Baroque organ music that Brilliant has released. Warmly recommended, with the hope of more recordings of this kind."

- Giovanni Antonio Cangiasi (? - ca. 1614), an Italian composer and organist active in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Born in Milan, Cangiasi was a Franciscan monk who held various prestigious positions throughout his career. From 1588 to at least 1590, he worked as organist at Vercelli Cathedral, culminating in his appointment as organist at the Chiesa Maggiore in Castelnuovo Scrivia in 1614.

- Cangiasi's surviving works include the "Scherzi Forastieri per suonare a quattro voci", his most important collection, published in Milan in 1614. This opus comprises four-part instrumental canzonas that illustrate the complex polyphonic style of the late Renaissance. The term "Scherzi forastieri" can be translated as "strange jokes" and indicates a collection full of playful and diverse musical ideas. Each piece in the collection has a distinctive title such as "La Stella", "La Guerra" and "La Marina", which can refer to contemporary personalities, events or abstract concepts, offering insights into the cultural and social milieu of the time.

- Played on the clavichord and harpsichord by Federico Del Sordo, one of the most important Italian musicians and scholars of early music with an impressive discography.