Antonio Vivaldi was 24 years old when, in September of 1703, he was first employed as maestro di violino at Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà.
Located near the Piazza San Marco, the Ospedale della Pietà was a generously endowed orphanage for girls, the most talented of whom received an exceptional music education. Describing the calibre of the performances, French scholar Charles de Brosses wrote in 1739, “The girls sing like angels, and play the violin, the flute, the organ, the oboe, the cello, the bassoon, in short there is no instrument large enough to frighten them.” Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote,
Every Sunday in the churches of the four scuole, during Vespers, there are motets for a large chorus and orchestra. These are composed and conducted by theleading Italian maestri and performed from behind screened-off galleries by girls, the oldest of whom is not twenty years of age. I can think of nothing so delectable and touching as this music: the wealth of artistry, the exquisite taste of the songs, the beauty of the choices, and the precision of performance…what pained me were these cursed screens which let only sounds escape and kept hidden from me the angelic beauties of which the sounds were so worthy.
As with much of Vivaldi’s music, the Gloria, RV. 589 was written for the Ospedale della Pietà. Composed circa 1715, it is one of at least three settings Vivaldi made of the text, taken from the Gospel of Luke. It is scored for four-part choir, three female soloists (soprano and alto/contralto), oboe, trumpet, strings and continuo. For 200 years, the score was forgotten, only to be rediscovered in the 1920s.
Set in the celebratory key of D major, and punctuated by triumphant oboe and trumpet fanfares, the opening movement (Gloria) is an angelic proclamation. Moving to B minor and triple meter, the second movement (Et in terra pax) enters a world of mystery and awe. With sudden harmonic shifts, it ventures deep into shadowy, far-flung places and searches for the way home. The third movement (Laudamus te) is a joyful duet. The chorale-like Gratias agimus leads to a fugue (Propter magnam gloriam) “effervescent, confident, even playful as the voices steal the subject from each other.” (Shulamit Hoffmann). The sixth movement (Domine Deus) is a solo soprano aria. It unfolds over the gently rocking rhythm of a barcarole as a musical conversation between the soprano and solo oboe. The Domine Fili erupts with the festive dotted rhythms of the French overture. The Domine Deus, Agnus Dei is a somber, introspective dialogue between contralto and antiphonal chorus. The tenth movement (Qui sedes) is a buoyant dance. Following a reprise of the opening music (Quoniam tu solus sanctus), the work concludes with the fugue, Cum sancto spiritu.
In the Baroque period, composers borrowed freely, much in the way jazz musicians adapt preexisting music. The closing fugue is an adaptation of music by Vivaldi’s contemporary, Giovanni Maria Ruggieri.
Here is John Eliot Gardiner’s recording with the English Baroque Soloists, the Monteverdi Choir, and soloists Lucy Ballard, Elinor Carter, and Margaret Cameron:
Here is the complete text:
Chorus
Gloria in excelsis Deo;Chorus
Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.Sopranos 1 and 2
Laudamus te, benedicimus te,
adoramus te, glorificamus te.Chorus
Gratias agimus tibi
propter magnam gloriam tuam.Soprano 1
Domine Deus, rex coelestis,
Deus pater omnipotens;Chorus
Domine fili unigenite, Jesu Christe;Alto and chorus
Domine Deus, agnus Dei, filius patris,
Rex coelestis, Domine Fili unigenite,
qui tollis peccata mundi,
miserere nobis.Chorus
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
suscipe deprecationem nostram.Alto
Qui sedes ad dexteram patris,
miserere nobis.Chorus
Quoniam tu solus sanctus,
tu solus Dominus,
tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe.Chorus
Cum sancto spiritu,
in gloria Dei patris.
Amen.
English translation:
Glory to God on high;
And on earth peace, good will toward men.
We praise thee, we bless thee,
we worship thee, we glorify thee.We give thanks to thee
for thy great glory.Lord God, heavenly king,
God the father almighty;Lord, the only begotten son, Jesus Christ;
Lord God, lamb of God, son of the father,
heavenly king, only begotten son,
thou who takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us.Thou who takest away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer.Thou who sittest at the right hand of
the father, have mercy upon us.For thou alone art holy,
thou alone art the Lord,
thou alone are most high, Jesus Christ.With the holy spirit,
in the glory of God the father.
Amen.
Five Great Recordings
- Vivaldi: Gloria, RV. 589, John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Lucy Ballard, Elinor Carter, Margaret Cameron Decca
- Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Sprituel (this 2015 recording takes some adventurous liberties with the score. It omits the oboe and trumpet and includes only female voices. The solo parts are performed by the vocal ensemble.
- Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants
- Sir David Willcocks, Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Academy of St Martin in the Fields
- Simon Preston, Emma Kirkby; Judith Nelson, Catherine Bott, Christ Church Cathedral Choir Oxford, Academy of Ancient Music
Featured Image: St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice