Antonio Vivaldi composed three settings of the Dixit Dominus (The Lord said [unto my Lord]), the Latin version of Psalm 110. They include a setting in ten movements for five soloists, double choir and orchestra, RV 594, another setting in eleven movements for five voices, five-part choir and orchestra, RV 595, and a recently discovered setting in eleven movements for five soloists, choir and orchestra, RV 807, which had been attributed to Baldassare Galuppi. It is said to be one of his "most significant sacred works."
There are three recorded compositions of Dixit Dominus – Psalm 110 in Latin (or Psalm 109 in the Vulgate) – by Vivaldi. Each is an extended setting of the vespers psalm for five soloists, choir and orchestra; one only having been identified as his work in 2005. [1] [2]
Psalm 110 is regularly included in Vespers services, usually as the opening psalm. Dixit Dominus has been said to be one of his "most significant sacred works". [1]
Vivaldi's best-known setting, catalogued as RV 594, is structured in ten movements, eight psalm verses and two movements for the doxology. It is set for soloists, double choir and orchestra. [3] Set in D major, it is scored for two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass soloists, two SATB choirs and orchestras. [3] The first choir (Coro I) is accompanied by two oboes, two trumpets (with timpani), two violins, viola, organ and basso continuo , while the second choir (Coro II) is accompanied by strings, organ and continuo. [4] The duration is given as 25 minutes. [3]
Carus-Verlag published a critical edition in 2005. The ten movements are: [4]
The setting discovered next was catalogued as RV 595. Also in D major, it is structured in eleven movements, eight psalm verses and three movements for the doxology. It is scored for two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass soloists, a choir which also calls for divided soprano in some movements, and an orchestra comprising strings, two oboes, trumpet, and continuo bass. [1]
The eleven movements are: [1]
The Vivaldi setting catalogued as RV 807 was identified as his work only in 2005, having been thought to have been written by Baldassare Galuppi. [2] A handwritten copy held by the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (Sächsische Staatsbibliothek) in Dresden is titled "Dixit a 4: con strumenti / del Sig: Baldasar Galuppi, detto Buranello / Fatto per l'Ospedale delli Mendicanti / 1745". [5] Set in D-major, it is scored for two sopranos, alto and two tenor soloists, choir and an orchestra of two bassoons, trumpet, strings and continuo. [5] A reviewer of its first recording described it as a masterpiece with "bold, intensely coloured rhetoric". [2]
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 in 1723 during his first year as Thomaskantor, the director of church music in Leipzig. His cantata is part of his first cantata cycle there and was written for the Marian feast of the Visitation on 2 July, which commemorates Mary's visit to Elizabeth as narrated in the Gospel of Luke in the prescribed reading for the feast day. Bach based the music on his earlier cantata BWV 147a, written originally in Weimar in 1716 for Advent. He expanded the Advent cantata in six movements to ten movements in two parts in the new work. While the text of the Advent cantata was written by the Weimar court poet Salomo Franck, the librettist of the adapted version who added several recitatives is anonymous.
Antonio Vivaldi wrote at least three Gloria compositions, settings of the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo, with words probably dating back to the 4th century, and an integral part of the mass ordinary. Two of them have survived: RV 588 and RV 589. A third, RV 590, is mentioned only in the Kreuzherren catalogue and presumed lost. The RV 589 Gloria is a familiar and popular piece among sacred works by Vivaldi. It was probably written at about the same time as the RV 588, possibly in 1715.
An introduzione is a motet for solo voice intended to be sung before certain choral settings of liturgical texts. Eight introduzioni by Antonio Vivaldi survive, each in three or four movements. The texts of introduzioni are non-liturgical but sometimes paraphrase liturgical texts. In the Ryom Verzeichnis, Vivaldi's introduzioni are numbered from RV 635–642.
An organ concerto is a piece of music, an instrumental concerto for a pipe organ soloist with an orchestra. The form first evolved in the 18th century, when composers including Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach wrote organ concertos with small orchestras, and with solo parts which rarely call for the organ pedal board. During the Classical period the organ concerto became popular in many places, especially in Bavaria, Austria and Bohemia, reaching a position of being almost an integral part of the church music tradition of jubilus character. From the Romantic era fewer works are known. Finally, there are some 20th- and 21st-century examples, of which the concerto by Francis Poulenc has entered the basic repertoire, and is quite frequently played.
Vesperae solennes de Dominica, K. 321, is a sacred choral composition, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1779. It is scored for SATB choir and soloists, violin I and II, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones colla parte, 2 timpani, and basso continuo.
O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe, BWV 34.2 is an incomplete wedding cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, of which only the complete libretto and some parts have survived.
Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei, BWV 46, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it for the tenth Sunday after Trinity and it was first performed on 1 August 1723 in Leipzig.
The Joy of Singing, a.k.a.Les 4 Saisons is a 1972 album by the Swingle Singers on the Philips Records label. All tracks from this album are also included on the 11 disk Philips boxed set, Swingle Singers.
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Es wartet alles auf dich, BWV 187 in Leipzig for the seventh Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 4 August 1726.
Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate is the common name for a sacred choral composition in two parts, written by George Frideric Handel to celebrate the Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, ending the War of the Spanish Succession. He composed a Te Deum, HWV 278, and a Jubilate Deo, HWV 279. The combination of the two texts in English follows earlier models. The official premiere of the work was on 13 July 1713 in a service in St Paul's Cathedral in London.
Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe, BWV 156, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the third Sunday after Epiphany and first performed it in 1727 or 1729. The cantata is well known for its opening sinfonia for orchestra and oboe solo.
Gott ist unsre Zuversicht, BWV 197.2, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg, BWV 149, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the work in Leipzig for Michaelmas and first performed it in 1728 or 1729. It is the last of his three extant cantatas for the feast.
Vesperae solennes de confessore, K. 339, is a sacred choral composition, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1780. It is scored for SATB choir and soloists, violin I, violin II, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones colla parte, 2 timpani, and basso continuo.
Antonio Vivaldi made several versions of his G minor setting of the Magnificat canticle. He scored his best known version, RV 610, for vocal soloists, four-part choir, oboes and string orchestra, which also exists in a version for two groups of performers. He based these versions on an earlier setting for voices and strings only (RV 610b). His ultimate version, in which some choral and ensemble movements are replaced by five arias, to be sung a cappella by girls from the Ospedale della Pietà orphanage, was catalogued as RV 611. The concise work is well suited for use in vesper services.
Mass No. 4 in C major, D 452, is a mass composed by Franz Schubert in 1816. It was originally scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, SATB choir, violin I and II, and basso continuo. It is classified as a missa solemnis.
There are four church cantatas by Georg Philipp Telemann sharing the title Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied:
Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Trumpets in C major, RV 537, is a concerto for two trumpets, string orchestra and basso continuo in three movements, believed to have been composed in the 1720s. It is Vivaldi's only trumpet concerto. It was published by Ricordi in 1950 after its manuscript was found in a Turin library.
Regina coeli, a Marian antiphon, was set by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart three times during his time at the Salzburg Cathedral. The best-known composition of the Latin Regina caeli for Eastertide is K. 276, a setting for four soloists, choir and orchestra, probably written in 1779. He wrote two earlier settings, K. 108 and K 127, both for soprano, choir and orchestra.