Gloria (Vivaldi)

Antonio Vivaldi wrote several settings of the Gloria. 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.

"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).

Settings

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 two-cori (double orchestra) setting of the same text by Giovanni Maria Ruggieri (which will be called 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 cori, 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 cori employed in RV Anh. 23, and also with some added and removed measures of chord progressions. 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

#"Introduzione" (RV 639): Aria "Jubilate o amoeni cori" (Contralto)
#Recitative "In tam solemni pompa" (Contralto)
#Aria "Sonoro Modulamine" (Contralto) — Gloria in excelsis Deo RV 588 (Chorus)
#Et in terra pax (Chorus)
#Laudamus te (Sopranos I and II)
#Gratias agimus tibi (Chorus)
#Domine Deus (Tenor)
#Domine, Fili unigenite (Chorus)
#Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (Chorus)
#Qui tollis peccata mundi (Chorus)
#Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Contralto)
#Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Soprano)
#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 inspiration (and plagiarism) 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 triple meter instead of the quadruple meter of RV 588; the orchestral motifs are also shared, including octaval jumps in the primal 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 incessant and repetitious semiquaver behind chord progressions in the chorus. 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 "upgraded" version of Ruggieri's original movement — that is to say, updated to fit the standards of the emerging classical style, with the addition of accidentals that were missing in RV Anh. 23 and RV 588.

Movements

#Gloria in excelsis Deo (Chorus)
#Et in terra pax (Chorus)
#Laudamus te (Sopranos I and II)
#Gratias agimus tibi (Chorus)
#Propter magnam gloriam (Chorus)
#Domine Deus (Soprano)
#Domine, Fili unigenite (Chorus)
#Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (Contralto and Chorus)
#Qui tollis peccata mundi (Chorus)
#Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Contralto)
#Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Chorus)
#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. Even so, there is no other source of information for this Gloria; not even its possible key could have 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. This composition, probably for a Venetian church during a festival, is dated September 9, 1708 N.S. This Gloria provided much inspiration for (RV 588 and RV 589), and for other Glorias at the time: the last movement was commonly used in other settings of the Gloria, which spread even as far to Johann Sebastian Bach, whose composed movement "Gratias Agimus Tibi" from his Mass in B Minor is similar to the "Domine Deus, Agnus Dei" movement from RV Anh. 23.

Movements

#Gloria in excelsis Deo (Chorus)
#Et in terra pax (Seven Bass soloists)
#Laudamus te (Chorus, Sopranos I and II, Tenor)
#Gratias agimus tibi (Chorus)
#Domine Deus (Sopranos I and II and Bass from first "cori", Sopranos III and VI and Bass from second "cori")
#Domine, Fili unigenite (Chorus)
#Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (Chorus)
#Qui tollis peccata mundi (Chorus)
#Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Chorus and Soprano, Contralto, and Tenor)
#Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Chorus)
#Cum Sancto Spiritu (Chorus)

Popularity

The Glorias remained in a relatively unknown status, until RV 589's revival by Alfredo Casella during "Vivaldi Week" in Siena (1939), along with the composer's setting of the Stabat Mater (RV 621). RV 589 enjoys well-founded popularity, performed at many sacred events, including Christmas. It has been recorded on almost one hundred CDs, sometimes paired with Bach's Magnificat (BWV 243), 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) 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 to simulate choral conditions at the "Pietà".

External links

*Free scores of in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)Laudamus Te (Vivaldi's Gloria) by Renee Fleming [http://youtube.com/watch?v=YI_XU4gH3sk]