Marcello’s Salmi were settings in cantata style of the first 50 psalms of David, using Italian paraphrases by G.A. Giustiniani. They were published in eight volumes between 1724 and 1726, of which this is the first volume, but published in 1803. As he explained in the preface, his intent was to restore dignity to devotional music by reviving musical practices of antiquity. The Salmi were considered models of contrapuntal and brought Marcello fame and influence well until the end of the 19th century.

An attractive volume, complete with the handsome portrait of Marcello by the Italian artist and engraver Antonio Zuliani (1686 - c. 1770).

Marcello was a younger contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi in Venice. As a lawyer, he was also active in city government as a member of the Council of 40.