-
I won’t delve further into Vivaldi’s extensive stage music here; should there be a specific interest in this regard, it shouldn’t be difficult to find an entry point via YouTube. However, attention should be drawn to his equally extensive church music due to its quite impressive and catchy sonic landscapes.
-
I’ll skip over the many solo motets Vivaldi composed as showcase pieces for the pupils at the Ospedale della Pieta in Venice, which had to be both brilliant and touching due to their purpose, and can still be recommended today as a basis for meditation. Exemplary motets include “Canta in prato” (RV 623), “Nulla in mundo” (RV 630), and “In furore” (RV 626).
-
I’ll focus on the so-called “great” Gloria, RV 589, certainly rightfully recognized as a particularly famous and highly esteemed work. The recording I’ve primarily listened to for “eternal” times is from 1974 with Corboz on the Erato CD (alongside J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, BWV 243). However, for educational purposes (prioritizing earnestness and inner engagement over ultimate musical quality), I suggest the recording of the University of North Texas: Collegium Singers & Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Richard Sparks, recorded live on December 2, 2011, at Winspear Hall, University of North Texas, Denton TX, available on YouTube: Vivaldi’s Gloria, Total Duration 29:29, uploaded on December 6, 2011, currently (February 4, 2024) with 4,854,563 views.
-
This concert, recorded live (both video and audio), also provides timestamps for each movement in the (extended) prelude, facilitating section-wise listening or replaying:
- 00:00:00 Entrance,
- 00:00:18 Gloria in excelsis Deo (Chorus),
- 00:02:48 Et in terra pax (Chorus),
- 00:07:46 Laudamus te (Sopranos I and II),
- 00:10:04 Gratias agimus tibi (Chorus),
- 00:10:27 Propter magnam gloriam (Chorus),
- 00:11:17 Domine Deus (Soprano),
- 00:14:32 Domine, Fili unigenite (Chorus),
- 00:16:41 Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (Contralto and Chorus),
- 00:20:34 Qui tollis peccata mundi (Chorus),
- 00:21:40 Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Contralto),
- 00:24:14 Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Chorus),
- 00:25:00 Cum Sancto Spiritu (Chorus).
-
From the showcased sonic realm of Italian Catholic church music of the late Baroque, specifically by Vivaldi, one can already discern the emergence of the Viennese Classical era, notably Haydn, primarily Mozart, and further ahead, Beethoven, Schubert, etc., quite differently than in the (northern) German Protestant music, such as that of Bach, and among the English.