Francesco Cavalli (1602–1676) is remembered today mainly for his operas. He wrote approximately 40 of them, a number which is due to the fact, that in those times the operas were performed for only one season. Cavalli was the most influential composer in the rising genre of public opera in mid-17th-century Venice. His works made use of a small orchestra of strings and basso continuo to meet the limitations of public opera houses.

It was only towards in the last years of his life, that Cavalli turned to sacred music, writing – among others – a Requiem for his own funeral. The Motet “Salve Regina” is part of the collection “Musiche Sacre Concernenti” published 1656 and which contains the largest source of Cavalli‘s sacred music in concertato style, representing a fusion of his sacred and secular compositional worlds.