SKU: CA.2732111

ISBN M-007-25435-3. Latin.

The best-known setting of the Requiem Mass before Mozart's unfinished work is by the celebrated opera composer Niccolo Jommelli. The Missa pro defunctis was composed in 1756, during Jommelli's time as Kapellmeister at the court of the Wurttemberg Duke Carl Eugen, on the occasion of the death of the Dowager Duchess Maria Augusta. The work went on to enjoy wide circulation and numerous further performances. Jommelli composed it in the Neapolitan style, with orchestral forces of just strings and basso continuo. The simple but effective choral movements are partly contrapuntal in the stile antico, and partly with solo/tutti alternation and numerous suspended dissonances, whilst in the solo parts the opera composer can be recognized. This beautiful sounding Missa pro defunctis is now published for the first time in a critical edition. Where sections are missing in Jommelli's composition, the Appendix contains settings by another composer from his circle, Nicola Sala. * The best-known setting of the Requiem Mass before Mozart * First critical edition * Effective choral movements with numerous suspended dissonances and solo/tutti alternation * Scored for small instrumental forces of strings and organ.

SKU: BA.BA04025-01

ISBN 9790006443222. 33 x 26 cm inches. Text Language: English.

Handelâ??s â??Semeleâ?, which premiered in February 1744, is based on an adapted version of William Congreveâ??s opera libretto titled â??The Story of Semeleâ?, originally published in 1706. However, neither Handel nor his librettist referred to â??Semeleâ? as an opera or an oratorio, which, according to the understanding at the time, would have required a biblical and/or Christian subject matter. Contemporary audiences also disagreed on the genre. The problematic classification as an oratorio has persisted into the present day, likely due to the edition labeled as such by Chrysander. The â??Halle Handel Editionâ? (HHA) distances itself from this classification and, considering the available sources, refrains from assigning a genre label.

Congreve deviates from the mythological source multiple times in order to create tensions among the characters. The desired marriage between Semele and Athamas, whom she does not love, is an addition by Congreve to provoke the envy of her sister Ino, who desires Athamas herself. Therefore, Ino sees her own advantage in Semeleâ??s abduction by Jupiter. While Jupiterâ??s wife Juno decides to destroy Semele out of jealousy for his relationship with her, Jupiter brings Ino to his palace to console Semele. The vengeful Juno takes advantage of Inoâ??s presence and transforms into her likeness, persuading Semele to carry out a plan that later proves fatal. In the end, Ino emerges as the winner, as she is able to convince their father, Cadmus, to marry her to Athamas. The appearance of Apollo in the final scene to announce that Semeleâ??s immortal son Bacchus was saved from her ashes provides little consolation. However, this twist allows the drama to conclude with exuberant joy and a magnificent final chorus after the tragic scenes in the third act, culminating in the death of the protagonist.

Handelâ??s autograph score shows significant deviations from and numerous revisions of the original version premiered. All surviving early versions, the musical movements deleted before the premiere, and the version of the December 1744, are given in the appendix to the HHA.

SKU: CA.2729303

ISBN 9790007171797. Text language: Latin.

Antonin Dvorak's impressive Stabat Mater for soloists, chorus and orchestra is probably the best-known of the composer's sacred works. Some painful experiences - in 1875 his first daughter died, and in 1877 he lost two other children in quick succession - may have led to Dvorak's preoccupation with the suffering of the Mother of God, who stands weeping beneath the cross of her son. The music enters into the different moods of the liturgical texts with great sensitivity. Nine movements in slow to moderate tempi serve as a kind of Passion meditation, before the ecstasy of a vision of the resurrection wins the upper hand at the end of the tenth movement. With our newly-published arrangement for chamber orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, timpani, and strings), smaller choirs now have the opportunity of performing this work without the choir being drowned out by a large-scale symphony orchestra. The symphonic character of the work is nevertheless preserved. This scoring offers an optimal balance between transparency and orchestral sound. All vocal parts (soloists and chorus) are identical with the original version. Vocal score and choral score can be used also together with the original version, which is in preparation.

SKU: CA.3100614

ISBN 9790007041762. Key: C minor / g minor. Language: German/English.

Bach composed the cantata Stay with us, for it draws on toward evening BWV 6 for Easter Monday 1725. In fact, it is certain that a chorale cantata had been planned for that feast day, but for some unknown reason, the annual cycle of chorale cantatas broke off just before Easter 1725. For BWV 6, Bach fell back on a text by an author whose texts he had already set numerous times in his first Leipzig annual cycle of cantatas (which are conspicuous by their ever constant structure and use of two chorale settings). From the gospel for Easter Monday, the story of the Emmaus disciples, only the disappearing daylight and the fear of being left alone are made the subject of discussion. A truly magnificent choral movement opens the cantata. The first chorale for soprano and violoncello piccolo, which Bach later included in his Schubler-Chorale, is also well-known outside of the cantata. Score and part available separately - see item CA.3100600.