Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) was an Italian
composer and violinist, considered among the greatest
exponents of Baroque music. A priest, although unable
to celebrate mass for health reasons, he was called
"the Red Priest" due to the color of his hair. He was
one of the most virtuosic violinists of his time and
one of the greatest composers of Baroque music.
Considered the most important, influential and original
Italian musician of his era, Vivaldi contributed
significantly to the developm...(+)
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) was an Italian
composer and violinist, considered among the greatest
exponents of Baroque music. A priest, although unable
to celebrate mass for health reasons, he was called
"the Red Priest" due to the color of his hair. He was
one of the most virtuosic violinists of his time and
one of the greatest composers of Baroque music.
Considered the most important, influential and original
Italian musician of his era, Vivaldi contributed
significantly to the development of the concerto,
especially solo (a genre initiated by Giuseppe
Torelli), and of violin technique and orchestration.
Furthermore, he did not neglect opera in music and his
vast compositional work also includes numerous
concerts, sonatas and pieces of sacred music.
His works influenced numerous composers of his time
including the greatest Baroque genius Johann Sebastian
Bach, but also Pisendel, Heinichen, Zelenka,
Boismortier, Corrette, De Fesch, Quantz. His best-known
compositions are the four violin concertos known as The
Four Seasons, a famous example of subject music. As
with many Baroque composers, his name and music fell
into oblivion after his death. Only thanks to the
research of some 20th century musicologists, such as
Arnold Schering, Marc Pincherle, Alberto Gentili,
Alfredo Casella and Gian Francesco Malipiero, his name
and his works became famous again, becoming one of the
best known and most performed composers.
Around the 1720s Vivaldi composed a single-movement
setting of the Lauda, Jerusalem for two cori, each with
a solo soprano, a four-part choir and strings. The
psalm is proper for Sundays, including Easter Sunday.
At some later stage – perhaps in 1739 when he was
commissioned to supply new works to the Pietà – he
penned on the manuscript the names of its four
choirgirls, two to a part, but it is uncertain whether
he carried through the plan to submit it. The Lauda,
Jerusalem reveals the enormous influence which
Vivaldi’s concertos had on his church music since it
observes the principles of ritornello form quite
strictly, alternating fully scored and lightly scored
sections, and inserting freely conceived episodes
between passages based on recurrent material
(ritornellos). Vivaldi is at his most compelling when
he arrives at the Doxology, whose subject is based on
that of another Lauda, Jerusalem, by an unknown
composer, in his collection.
Vivaldi's setting in E minor of the Psalm Lauda
Jerusalem, which was probably written towards the end
of his life, was one of the number of works that he
supplied to the Ospedale della Pietà in 1739. It
resembles the Beatus vir RV 598 in being conceived as a
single, extremely long movement, but differs from it in
employing a double choir and orchestra. The Lauda
Jerusalem is a muscular, memorable work that shows
Vivaldi's invention at the end of his career to be
undimmed.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_(Vivaldi)).
Although originally written for 2 Mixed Chorus
(SATB/SATB), Strings & Continuo, I created this
Interpretation of the "Lauda Jerusalem" from Psalm 147
in E Minor (RV 609) for Winds (Flutes, Oboes, French
Horns & Bassoons) & Strings (Violins, Violas & Cellos).