Gloria (Vivaldi)
Encyclopedia
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...

 wrote several settings of the Gloria
Gloria in Excelsis Deo
"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is the title and beginning of a hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.It is an example of the psalmi idiotici "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")...

. RV 589 is the most familiar and popular piece of sacred music by Vivaldi; however, he was known to have written at least three Gloria settings. Only two survive (RV 588 and RV 589) whilst the other (RV 590) is presumably lost and is only mentioned in the Kreuzherren catalogue. The two were written at about the same time (it is disputed which came first) in the early 18th century.

Introduzioni

As with other choral pieces the composer wrote, Vivaldi wrote many an introduzione (introductory motets) that were to be performed before the Gloria itself. Four introduzioni exist for these Glorias: Cur Sagittas (RV 637), Jubilate, o amoeni cori (RV 639), Longe Mala, Umbrae, Terrores (RV 640), and Ostro Picta (RV 642).

RV 588

The lesser known of the two surviving Glorias, RV 588 was composed most likely during Vivaldi's employment at the Pio Ospedale della Pietà, known for their advanced choral ensemble. The first movement is interwoven with the last aria of RV 639, as explained above. The date of composition between this Gloria and RV 589 is still disputed, but both show compositional inspiration from each other.

RV 588 borrows extensively from a double orchestra-and-choir setting of the same text by Giovanni Maria Ruggieri
Giovanni Maria Ruggieri
Giovanni Maria Ruggieri or Ruggeriwas a Baroque composer from Italy. His dates of birth and death are uncertain, but he may have been born about 1665 in Verona and died around 1725. He is known to have flourished from 1689–1720.-Life:...

 (which will henceforth in this article be referred by its RV cataloguing number of RV. Anh. 23). Many movements show inspiration from this composition, and two movements ("Qui Tollis" and "Cum Sancto Spiritu") are plagiarised from the original Ruggieri setting (although "Qui Tollis" completely omits the second coro (chorus), and "Cum Sancto Spiritu" is slightly modified). The first movement of RV 588 is also an extended version of RV Anh. 23, sans the second coro employed in RV Anh. 23, among other musical modifications. The second movements of both RV 588 and RV 589 ("Et in Terra Pax") both show chromatic patterns and key modulations similar to that of the second movement of RV Anh. 23.

Movements

  1. Aria "Sonoro Modulamine" (Contralto) — Gloria in excelsis Deo RV 588 (Chorus)
  2. Et in terra pax (Chorus)
  3. Laudamus te (Sopranos I and II)
  4. Gratias agimus tibi (Chorus)
  5. Domine Deus (Tenor)
  6. Domine, Fili unigenite (Chorus)
  7. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (Soprano)
  8. Qui tollis peccata mundi (Chorus)
  9. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Contralto)
  10. Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Soprano)
  11. Cum Sancto Spiritu (Chorus)

RV 589

This is the better known setting of the Gloria, simply known as the Vivaldi "Gloria" due to its outstanding popularity. This piece, along with its mother composition RV 588, was composed at the same time during Vivaldi's employment at the Pieta. Two introduzioni exist as explained in the aforementioned article.

RV 589 is more mature and original than its predecessor. However, evidence of obvious influence still exist. The first movement's chorus shares similar key modulations to that of the first movement of RV 588, only modified to fit a duple meter instead of the triple meter of RV 588. Motivic content present in in the orchestral parts of either piece are also shared, including octaval jumps in the opening motives of the piece. The second movement is much more dramatic in RV 589, but nevertheless shares with RV Anh. 23 in that the second movement of both employ the use of rhythmic repetition underneath choral progressions. The "Qui Tollis" movement of RV 589 is rhythmically similar to the first few measures of RV 588 (and ultimately RV Anh. 23). The last movement, "Cum Sancto Spiritu," is essentially an "updated" version of movement present in both RV Anh. 23 and RV 588, except extensively harmonically modified, becoming more chromatic than its predecessors, reflecting a maturity in Vivaldi's output and the emerging style of the late Italian Baroque.

Movements

  1. Gloria in excelsis Deo (Chorus)
  2. Et in terra pax (Chorus)
  3. Laudamus te (Sopranos I and II)
  4. Gratias agimus tibi (Chorus)
  5. Propter magnam gloriam (Chorus)
  6. Domine Deus (Soprano)
  7. Domine, Fili unigenite (Chorus)
  8. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (Contralto and Chorus)
  9. Qui tollis peccata mundi (Chorus)
  10. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Contralto)
  11. Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Chorus)
  12. Cum Sancto Spiritu (Chorus)

RV 590

Almost no information exists on this lost setting other than evidence of its instrumentals (five voices and oboes in trombae) in the Kreuzherren catalogue. There is no other source of information; not even its possible key can be been conjectured. In the Ryom-Verzeichnis catalogue, it is considered lost.

RV Anh. 23

As stated above, this Gloria for two cori (orchestras) was written by Giovanni Maria Ruggieri
Giovanni Maria Ruggieri
Giovanni Maria Ruggieri or Ruggeriwas a Baroque composer from Italy. His dates of birth and death are uncertain, but he may have been born about 1665 in Verona and died around 1725. He is known to have flourished from 1689–1720.-Life:...

. This composition, probably for a Venetian church during a festival, is dated September 9, 1708 N.S. This Gloria provided much inspiration for Vivaldi's two settings and for other Glorias by other composers at the time, who may have used it in their settings.

Movements

  1. Gloria in excelsis Deo (Chorus)
  2. Et in terra pax (Seven Bass soloists)
  3. Laudamus te (Chorus, Sopranos I and II, Tenor)
  4. Gratias agimus tibi (Chorus)
  5. Propter Magnam Gloriam (Chorus)
  6. Domine Deus (Sopranos I and II and Bass from first coro, Sopranos III and VI and Bass from second coro)
  7. Domine, Fili unigenite (Chorus)
  8. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (Chorus)
  9. Qui tollis peccata mundi (Chorus)
  10. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Chorus and Soprano, Contralto, and Tenor)
  11. Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Chorus)
  12. Cum Sancto Spiritu (Chorus)

Popularity

The Glorias remained in a relatively unknown status, until RV 589's revival by Alfredo Casella
Alfredo Casella
Alfredo Casella was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor.- Life and career :Casella was born in Turin; his family included many musicians; his grandfather, a friend of Paganini's, was first cello in the San Carlo Theatre in Lisbon and eventually was soloist in the Royal Chapel in Turin...

 during "Vivaldi Week" in Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...

 (1939), along with the composer's setting of the Stabat Mater (RV 621)
Stabat Mater (Vivaldi)
Stabat Mater for solo alto or countertenor and orchestra, RV 621, is a composition by the Italian baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi on one of the Sorrows of Mary.-Instrumentation:...

. RV 589 enjoys well-founded popularity, performed at many sacred events, including Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

. It has been recorded on almost one hundred CDs, sometimes paired with Bach's Magnificat (BWV 243)
Magnificat (Bach)
The Magnificat in D major, BWV 243, is a major vocal work of Johann Sebastian Bach. It was composed for orchestra, a five-part choir and four or five soloists. The text is the canticle of Mary, mother of Jesus, as told by Luke the Evangelist .Bach composed an initial version in E flat major in 1723...

, Vivaldi's own Magnificat settings (RV 610-611), or Vivaldi's Beatus Vir (RV 597). RV 588, however, has had little success and has only been published in few albums. Attempts to create more attention to RV 588 and other sacred Vivaldi works (most notably by The King's Consort
The King's Consort
The King's Consort is a prominent British period music orchestra founded in 1980 by the English conductor and harpsichordist Robert King . The ensemble has an associated choral group, Choir of The King's Consort. Together, they have made over 90 recordings, largely on the Hyperion label, and sold...

) have gone underway.

As with many other pieces of the Baroque era, RV 589 (and its lesser known companion RV 588) have been performed in historically-performed instrumentation, even with the use of an all-female choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 to simulate choral conditions at the Pietà.

RV 589 has also been used in a number of films. The first movement featured in the 1996 Scott Hicks
Scott Hicks
Robert Scott Hicks is a film director from Australia. He is best known as the screenwriter and director of Shine, the Oscar-winning biopic of pianist David Helfgott. Hicks's work has been nominated for an Academy Award as well as winning an Emmy Award.-Personal life:Hicks was born in Uganda, the...

 film Shine
Shine (film)
Shine is a 1996 Australian film based on the life of pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions. It stars Geoffrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Nicholas Bell, Chris...

about pianist David Helfgott
David Helfgott
David Helfgott is an Australian concert pianist. He is as well known for having schizoaffective disorder as he is for his piano playing. Helfgott's life inspired the Oscar-winning film Shine, in which he was played by Geoffrey Rush....

. An adaptation of the second movement was used with profound effect in the final climactic scenes of the 1985 Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky is a Soviet-American and Russian film director, film producer and screenwriter....

 film Runaway Train
Runaway Train (film)
Runaway Train is a 1985 film about two escaped convicts and a female train worker who are stuck on a runaway train as it barrels through snowy desolate Alaska. It stars Jon Voight as Oscar "Manny" Manheim, Eric Roberts as Buck, John P. Ryan as Associate Warden Ranken and Rebecca De Mornay as Sara...

.

External links

  • Free scores of this work in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
    Choral Public Domain Library
    The Choral Public Domain Library is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing .-Description:...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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