From an early age Benedetto Marcello (1686 - Brescia) proved to be a man of great versatility: a poet, writer, musician, lawyer, judge, administrator and philologist, holding important posts in these functions during his entire life. As a composer he wrote a substantial oeuvre, covering all important fields of composition: sacred and secular choral works, opera and a large body of instrumental music. An important part of Marcello’s life was devoted to the Estro poetico-armonico, a substantial collection of musical settings of the first fifty Psalms in an Italian paraphrase written by Girolamo Ascanio Giustiniani (1697-1749). They were not compositions intended for the liturgy, instead, each Psalm is a spiritual cantata, a form that followed in the wake of the oratorio and religious music in general, spreading rapidly through Italy from the early 17th century. The aesthetic style of the Estro poetico-armonico avoids excessive use of counterpoint and harmony, and focuses on catching melodies and expression of the emotions of the text. This new recording presents the Psalms 42 and 50, performed by the Coro Istituzione Armonica and the Ensemble Il Narvalo, conducted by Alberto Turco.