Beethoven - Leonore Overture no. 1, op. 138


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Pärt - Spiegel im Spiegel


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Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro (The complete opera)


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The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata (The Marriage of Figaro, or The Day of Madness), K. 492, is an opera buffa (comic opera) composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (1784).
Although the play by Beaumarchais was at first banned in Vienna because of its satire of the aristocracy, considered dangerous in the decade before the French Revolution, the opera became one of Mozart's most successful works. The overture is especially famous and is often played as a concert piece. The musical material of the overture is not used later in the work, aside from two brief phrases during the Count's part in the terzetto Cosa sento! in act 1.
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Bizet - Carmen (Karajan)

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Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies (1824) by Alexander Pushkin. Mérimée had read the poem in Russian by 1840 and translated it into French in 1852.
The opera premiered at the Opéra-Comique of Paris on 3 March 1875, but its opening run was denounced by the majority of critics. It was almost withdrawn after its fourth or fifth performance, and although this was avoided, ultimately having 48 performances in its first run, it did little to bolster sagging receipts at the Opéra-Comique. Near the end of this run, the theatre was giving tickets away in order to stimulate attendance. Bizet died of a heart attack, aged 36, on 3 June 1875, never knowing how popular Carmen would become. In October 1875 it was produced in Vienna, to critical and popular success, which began its path to worldwide popularity. It was not staged again at the Opéra Comique until 1883.
Bizet's final opera not only transformed the opéra comique genre that had been static for half a century, it virtually killed it. Within a few years, the traditional distinction between opera (serious, heroic and declamatory) and opéra comique (light-hearted, bourgeois and conversational with spoken dialogue) disappeared. Moreover, Carmen nourished a movement that was to win both celebrity and notoriety first in Italy and then elsewhere: the cult of realism known as verismo.
The early death of Bizet, and the negligence of his immediate heirs and publisher led, as with most of Bizet's operas, to major textual problems for which scholars and performers only began to find solutions in the 1960s.
The story is set in Seville, Spain, around 1820, and concerns the eponymous Carmen, a beautiful gypsy with a fiery temper. Free with her love, she woos the corporal Don José, an inexperienced soldier. Their relationship leads to his rejection of his former love, mutiny against his superior, and joining a gang of smugglers. His jealousy when she turns from him to the bullfighter Escamillo leads him to murder Carmen.
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Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 26 (Claudio Arrau)






Pianist - Claudio Arrau / Recorded in 1966
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Piano Sonata No. 26 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major, Op. 81a, known as the Les Adieux sonata, was written during the years 1809 and 1810.

The title Les Adieux implies a programmatic nature. The French attack on Vienna, led by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1809, forced Beethoven's patron, Archduke Rudolph, to leave the city. Yet, there is some uncertainty about this nature of the piece — or at least, about the degree to which Beethoven wished this programmatic nature would be known. He titled the three movements "Lebewohl," "Abwesenheit," and "Wiedersehen," and reportedly regarded the French "Adieux" (said to whole assemblies or cities) as a poor translation of the feeling of the German "Lebewohl" (said heartfully to a single person) (Kolodin, 1975). Indeed, Beethoven had written the syllables "Le-be-wohl" over the first three chords.

On the first 1811 publication, a dedication was added reading "On the departure of his Imperial Highness, for the Archduke Rudolph in admiration".

An average performance of the piece lasts about 17 minutes. The sonata is one of Beethoven's most challenging sonatas because of the mature emotions that must be conveyed throughout it. It is also the bridge between his middle period and his later period and is considered the third great sonata of the middle period. The last movement is technically very challenging.

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Beethoven - Mass in C major, Op. 86














Carlo Maria Giulini conducts the New Philharmonia Chorus and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Mass in C major (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his Mass in C major, Op. 86, to a commission from Prince Nikolaus Esterházy II in 1807. In fulfilling this commission, Beethoven was extending a tradition established by Joseph Haydn, who following his return from England in 1795 had composed one mass per year for the Esterházy family, to celebrate the name day of the Prince's wife. Haydn had ceased this tradition with the failure of his health in 1802.

Prince Nikolaus did not appreciate the mass, causing Beethoven to leave his house in a rage. Charles Rosen, in his The Classical Style, has called the episode Beethoven's "most humiliating public failure". The mass is appreciated by critics (such as Rosen), but is probably one of the least often performed of Beethoven's larger works.

Of the work, Michael Moore writes "While it is often overshadowed by the immense Missa Solemnis, written some fifteen years later, it has a directness and an emotional content that the latter work sometimes lacks." The widely-read Penguin Guide to Compact Discs (2004 edition) forthrightly calls the work a "long-underrated masterpiece."

Movements

1. Kyrie / 2. Gloria (Qui tollis – Quoniam) / 3. Credo / 4. Sanctus (Benedictus – Osanna) / 5. Agnus Dei (Dona nobis pacem)

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Rachmaninov - prelude in c sharp minor no.2 (Ashkenazy)


Pianist - Vladimir Ashkenazy
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Bach - Cello Suite No. 6 ( Mischa Maisky )












I. Prelude / II. Allemande / III. Courante / IV. Sarabande / V. Gavottes / VI. Gigue

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Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012

It is widely believed that the sixth suite was composed specifically for a five-stringed violoncello piccolo, a smaller cello, roughly the size of a 7/8 normal cello that has a fifth upper string tuned to E, a perfect fifth above the otherwise top string. However, some say there is no substantial evidence to support this claim: whilst three of the sources inform the player that it is written for an instrument "a cinq cordes", only Anna Magdalena Bach's manuscript indicates the tunings of the strings and the other sources do not mention any intended instrument at all.

Other possible instruments for the suite include a version of the violoncello piccolo played on the arm like a viola, as well as a viola with a fifth string tuned to E, called a viola pomposa. As the range required in this piece is very large, the suite was probably intended for a larger instrument, although it is conceivable that Bach—who was fond of the viola—may have performed the work himself on an arm-held violoncello piccolo. However, it is equally likely that beyond hinting the number of strings, Bach did not intend any specific instrument at all as the construction of instruments in the early 18th century was highly variable.

Cellists wishing to play the piece on a modern four-string cello encounter difficulties as they are forced to use very high positions to reach many of the notes, though modern cellists regularly perform the suite on the 4-string instrument. Performers specialising in early music and using authentic instruments generally use the 5-string cello for this suite, including Anner Bylsma, Pieter Wispelwey, Jaap ter Linden and Josephine van Lier.

This suite is written in much more free form than the others, containing more cadenza-like movements and virtuosic passages. It is also the only one of the suites that is partly notated in the Tenor C clef, which is not needed for the others since they never go above the note G4 (G above middle C).

Mstislav Rostropovich called this suite "a symphony for solo cello" and characterised its D major tonality as evoking joy and triumph.

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Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis


Conductor: Eugene Ormandy / Philadelphia Orchestra
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Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, also known as the Tallis Fantasia, is a work for string orchestra by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. It was composed in 1910, and performed for the first time in September of that year at Gloucester Cathedral for the Three Choirs Festival. Vaughan Williams himself was the conductor on this occasion, and the composition proved to be a major success.
He revised the work twice, in 1913 and 1919. Performances of the work generally run between 14 and 16 minutes.
The work takes its name from the original composer of the melody, Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585). Vaughan Williams took much inspiration from music of the English Renaissance and many of his works are associated with or inspired by the music of this period. In 1906 Vaughan Williams included Tallis's Third Mode Melody in the English Hymnal, which he was then editing, as the melody for Joseph Addison's hymn When Rising from the Bed of Death. The tune is in Double Common Meter (D.C.M. or C.M.D.)
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Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 1 in g minor op. 26 ( Isaac Stern )


Violin - Isaac Stern / Conductor - Eugene Ormandy / Philadelphia Orchestra /1966
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Violin Concerto No. 1 (Bruch)

Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, is one of the most popular violin concertos in the repertoire. It continues to be performed and recorded by many violinists and is arguably Bruch's most famous composition.

History

The concerto was first completed in 1866 and the first performance was given on 24 April 1866 by Otto von Königslow with Bruch himself conducting. The concerto was then considerably revised with help from celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim and completed in its present form in 1867. The premiere of the revised concerto was given by Joachim in Bremen on 5 January 1868 with Karl Martin Rheinthaler conducting.

The fate of the score

Bruch sold the score to the publisher N. Simrock outright for a small lump sum - but he kept a copy of his own. At the end of World War I, he was destitute, having been unable to enforce the payment of royalties for his other works due to chaotic world-wide economic conditions. He sent his autograph to the duo-pianists Rose and Ottilie Sutro (for whom he had written his Concerto in A flat minor for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Op. 88a, in 1912), so that they could sell it in the United States and send him the money. Bruch died in October 1920, without ever receiving any money. The Sutro sisters decided to keep the score themselves, but they claimed to have sold it, and sent Bruch's family some worthless German paper money as the alleged proceeds of the alleged sale. They always refused to divulge any details of the supposed purchaser. In 1949, they sold the autograph to Mary Flagler Cary, whose collection, including the Bruch concerto, now resides at the Pierpont Morgan Public Library in New York.

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Schubert - Piano Sonata D.960 (Claudio Arrau)


00:00 - Molto moderato / 20:14 - Andante sostenuto / 31:06 – Scherzo / 35:56 - Allegro ma non troppo
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Schubert's last sonatas

Franz Schubert's last three piano sonatas, numbered 958, 959 and 960 in Deutsch's catalogue of Schubert's complete works, are the composer's last major compositions for the piano. They were written during the last months of Schubert's life, between the spring and autumn of 1828, but were not published until about ten years after his death, in 1838–39. Like the rest of Schubert’s piano sonatas, they were mostly neglected in the 19th century. By the late 20th century, however, public and critical opinion had changed, and Schubert's last sonatas are now considered amongst the most important of the composer's mature masterpieces. They are part of the core piano repertoire, appearing regularly on concert programs and recordings.

One of the reasons for the long period of neglect of Schubert's piano sonatas seems to be their dismissal as structurally and dramatically inferior to the sonatas of Beethoven. In fact, the last sonatas contain distinct allusions and similarities to works by Beethoven, a composer Schubert venerated. However, musicological analysis has shown that they maintain a mature, individual style. Schubert's last sonatas are now praised for their mature style, manifested in unique features such as a cyclical formal and tonal design, chamber music textures, and a rare depth of emotional expression.

The three sonatas are cyclically interconnected by diverse structural, harmonic and melodic elements tying together all movements in each sonata, as well as all three sonatas together; consequently, they are often regarded as a trilogy. They also contain specific allusions and similarities to other Schubert compositions, such as his Winterreise song cycle; these connections point to turbulent emotional content in the sonatas, often understood as highly personal and autobiographical. Indeed, some researchers have suggested specific psychological narratives for the sonatas, based on historical evidence concerning the composer's life.

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Liszt - Feux Follets from Etudes Transcendentale No. 5

Pianist - Daniel Wnukowski
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Transcendental Étude No. 5 (Liszt)

Transcendental Étude No. 5 in B-flat "Feux follets" (Will o' the Wisp) is the fifth étude of the set of twelve Transcendental Études by Franz Liszt.

Difficulties

As with the other works in the Études but one, Feux follets went through three versions, the first being Étude en douze exercises from 1826, the second being Douze études d'execution transcendentale from 1838, and third, an 1851 revision of the 1838 set. It is this last version, from 1851, that is most often performed, most of the demands of the 1838 version being trimmed down and refined. Its rapid double-note passages in the right hand accompanied by wide broken intervals in the left are notoriously difficult to play. In addition, the passages are often asymmetrical and unpredictable. It reaches several climaxes that are technically demanding and ends in pianissimo arpeggios. Despite the mechanical difficulties of the work, its greatest challenge lies in doing justice to its whimsical and mysterious character. Pianissimo and leggierissimo markings abound in the double note sections making it more difficult to play. It is one of the most technically difficult pieces of the whole set.

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Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending

Violinist - David Nolan / Conductor - Vernon Handley / London Philharmonic Orchestra

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The Lark Ascending

The Lark Ascending is a work by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, inspired by George Meredith's 122-line poem of the same name about the skylark. He included this portion of Meredith's poem on the flyleaf of the published work:

He rises and begins to round, He drops the silver chain of sound, Of many links without a break, In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake. For singing till his heaven fills, Tis love of earth that he instils, And ever winging up and up, Our valley is his golden cup And he the wine which overflows to lift us with him as he goes. Till lost on his aerial rings In light, and then the fancy sings.

The work was written in two versions: violin and piano, written in 1914; and violin and orchestra, written in 1920. The orchestral version is the one that is almost always heard now. It is one of the most popular pieces in the Classical repertoire among British listeners.

In 2011 it was chosen as Britain's all-time favourite 'Desert Island Disc' in a poll of listeners to chose the nation's Desert Island Discs.

From 2007 to 2010, the piece was voted number one in the Classic FM annual Hall of Fame poll, over Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto, Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and another work of Vaughan Williams', the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. In 2011 it was usurped by Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. In 2011, in a poll to find what music New Yorkers would like to hear on the radio for the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, The Lark Ascending came second.

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Mikis Theodorakis - Zorba's Dance - David Garrett


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Rossini - L'italiana in Algeri - Ouverture

Conducter - Neville Marriner
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L'italiana in Algeri

L'italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers) is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca. The music is characteristic of Rossini's style, remarkable for its fusion of sustained, manic energy with elegant, pristine melodies.

Rossini wrote L'italiana in Algeri when he was 21. The opera was composed in either 18 or 27 days, depending on which source one believes (Rossini, not surprisingly, pegged it at 18). Rossini entrusted the composition of the recitatives as well as the aria "Le femmine d'Italia" to an unknown collaborator. The opera is notable for Rossini's mixing of opera seria style in opera buffa. The overture is widely recorded and performed today, known for its distinct opening of slow, quiet pizzicato basses, leading to a sudden loud burst of sound from the full orchestra. This "surprise" reflects Rossini's early admiration for Joseph Haydn, whose Symphony No. 94 in G major, "The Surprise Symphony", is so named for the same shocking, semi-comic effect.

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Rossini - La Gazza Ladra Overture (The Thieving Magpie)

Rene Leibowitz conducts the Paris Pasdeloup Orchestra (1958, Urania)
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La gazza ladra

La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) is a melodramma or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giovanni Gherardini after La pie voleuse by JMT Badouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez.
The opera is best known for its overture, which is notable for its use of snare drums.
Rossini was famous for his writing speed, and La gazza ladra was no exception. It was reported that the producer had to lock Rossini in a room the day before the first performance in order to write the overture. Rossini then threw each sheet out of the window to his copyists, who wrote out the full orchestral parts.
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Bach - Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Glenn Could












The 1982 recording of Glenn Gould playing Johann Sebastian Bach's famous Goldberg Variations.

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Goldberg Variations

The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a workfor harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30variations. First published in 1741, the work is considered to be one of themost important examples of variation form. The Variations are named afterJohann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may have been the first performer.


Composition

The tale of how the variations came to becomposed comes from an early biography of Bach by Johann Nikolaus Forkel:

Forthis work we have to thank the instigation of the former Russian ambassador tothe electoral court of Saxony, Count Kaiserling, who often stopped in Leipzig and brought therewith him the aforementioned Goldberg, in order to have him given musicalinstruction by Bach. The Count was often ill and had sleepless nights. At suchtimes, Goldberg, who lived in his house, had to spend the night in anantechamber, so as to play for him during his insomnia. ... Once the Countmentioned in Bach's presence that he would like to have some clavier pieces forGoldberg, which should be of such a smooth and somewhat lively character thathe might be a little cheered up by them in his sleepless nights. Bach thoughthimself best able to fulfill this wish by means of Variations, the writing ofwhich he had until then considered an ungrateful task on account of therepeatedly similar harmonic foundation. But since at this time all his workswere already models of art, such also these variations became under his hand.Yet he produced only a single work of this kind. Thereafter the Count alwayscalled them his variations. He never tired of them, and for a long timesleepless nights meant: 'Dear Goldberg, do play me one of my variations.' Bachwas perhaps never so rewarded for one of his works as for this. The Countpresented him with a golden goblet filled with 100 louis-d'or. Nevertheless,even had the gift been a thousand times larger, their artistic value would notyet have been paid for.

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Tchaikovsky - String Quartet No.1


Performed by Borodin Quartet
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String Quartet No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)

The String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Opus 11, was the first of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's three string quartets. It was premiered in Moscow on 16/28 March 1871, with an ensemble consisting of Ferdinand Laub and Ludvig Minkus, violins; Pryanishnikov, viola; and Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, cello.

The melancholic Andante cantabile movement, which has become famous in its own right, was based on a folk song the composer heard whistled by a house painter. When the quartet was performed at a tribute concert for Leo Tolstoy, the author was said to have been brought to tears by this movement. It is frequently performed in arrangements for string orchestra.

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Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Phantom of the Opera - Highlights








I - The Phantom of the Opera (Steve Harley & Sarah Brightman) / II - The Music of the Night (Michael Crawford & Sarah Brightman) / III - Think of Me (Sarah Brightman) / IV - All I Ask of You (Sarah Brightman & Cliff Richard)
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The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.
The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator, but withdrew due to illness after some initial work on a single song, "Masquerade". The central plot revolves around a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius.
The Phantom of the Opera opened in the West End in 1986, and on Broadway in 1988. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, and Michael Crawford (in the title role) won the 1986 Olivier and 1988 Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical. It is the longest-running Broadway show by a wide margin, the second longest-running West End musical, and the third longest-running West End show overall.
With total worldwide box office receipts of over $5.1 billion (£3.5 billion), including a Broadway gross of US $800 million, Phantom is the highest-grossing entertainment event of all time and the most financially successful theatrical show in history. It had been seen by over 130 million people in 145 cities in 27 countries by 2011, the most successful entertainment project in history.
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Beethoven - Sonatas for Cello and Piano No.1 - Rostropovich & Richter


Piano - Sviatoslav Richter / Cello - Mstislav Rostropovich

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Cello Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 (Beethoven)
Cello Sonatas No. 1 and No. 2 (Opus 5) were written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1796, while he was in Berlin. While there, Beethoven met the King of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm II, an ardent music-lover and keen cellist. Although the sonatas are dedicated to Friedrich Wilhelm II, Ferdinand Ries tells us that Beethoven "played several times at the court, where he also played the two cello sonatas, opus 5, composed for Duport (the King's first cellist) and himself". Although Jean-Pierre Duport was one of the King's teachers, it is now thought to have been his brother Jean-Louis Duport who had the honor of premiering these sonatas.


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Grieg - Peer Gynt - In the Hall of the Mountain King - David Garrett


From "Rock Symphonies" - David Garrett

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Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto - Isaac Stern


Violin - Isaac Stern / Conductor - Eugene Ormandy / Philadelphia Orchestra /1958
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Violin Concerto (Mendelssohn)
Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 is his last large orchestral work. It forms an important part of the violin repertoire and is one of the most popular and most frequently performed violin concertos of all time. A typical performance lasts just under half an hour.
Mendelssohn originally proposed the idea of the violin concerto to Ferdinand David, a close friend and then concertmaster of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Although conceived in 1838, the work took another six years to complete and was not premiered until 1845. During this time, Mendelssohn maintained a regular correspondence with David, seeking his advice with the concerto. The work itself was one of the first violin concertos of the Romantic era and was influential to the compositions of many other composers. Although the concerto consists of three movements in a standard fast–slow–fast structure and each movement follows a traditional form, the concerto was innovative and included many novel features for its time. Distinctive aspects of the concerto include the immediate entrance of the violin at the beginning of the work and the linking of the three movements with each movement immediately following the previous one.
The concerto was initially well received and soon became regarded as one of the greatest violin concertos of all time. The concerto remains popular and has developed a reputation as an essential concerto for all aspiring concert violinists to master, and usually one of the first Romantic era concertos they learn. Many professional violinists have recorded the concerto and the work is regularly performed in concerts and classical music competitions.
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Wagner - Die Walküre - Extracts








I - Prelude to act 1 (The opening storm) / II - Prelude to act 2 / III - "Ride of the Valkyries"(Prelude and scene 1 ("Hojotoho! Heiaha") from act 3) / IV - Magic Fire Music (act 3)
I,II - Conductor - Daniel Barenboim /Scala / 2010
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Die Walküre
Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner. Die Walküre's best-known excerpt is the "Ride of the Valkyries".
Wagner took his tale from the Norse mythology told in the Volsunga Saga and the Poetic Edda.
It received its premiere at the National Theatre Munich on 26 June 1870 at the insistence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It premiered in Wagner's Bayreuth Festival as part of the complete cycle on 14 August 1876. The opera made its United States premiere at the Academy of Music in New York on 2 April 1877.
Noted excerpts
  • Prelude to act 1 (The opening storm)
  • Siegmund Spring Song and duet with Sieglinde ("Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond") (act 1)
  • Prelude to act 2
  • Wotan's Monologue (act 2)
  • Brünnhilde's Announcement of Siegmund's Death (act 2)
  • "Ride of the Valkyries" (Prelude and scene 1 ("Hojotoho! Heiaha") from act 3)
  • Brünnhilde's pleading (War es so schmählich) (act 3)
  • Wotan's Farewell ("Leb' wohl") (act 3)
  • Magic Fire Music (act 3)
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Vivaldi - Gloria RV 589






I - Gloria in excelsis Deo (Chorus) / II - Et in terra pax (Chorus) / III - Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Contralto)
I&III - The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford / The Academy of Ancient Music / Simon Preston
II - Live recording of the Choir in concert with the Orchestra of St. Gaudenzio Assumption - Director Paul Time - choirmaster John Maestrone
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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. The two were written at about the same time (it is disputed which came first) in the early 18th century.
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 influence 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 duple meter instead of the triple meter of RV 588. Motivic content present in in the orchestral parts of either piece are also shared, including octaval jumps in the opening 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 rhythmic repetition underneath choral progressions. 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 "updated" version of movement present in both RV Anh. 23 and RV 588, except extensively harmonically modified, becoming more chromatic than its predecessors, reflecting a maturity in Vivaldi's output and the emerging style of the late Italian Baroque.
Movements
1. Gloria in excelsis Deo (Chorus) / 2. Et in terra pax (Chorus) / 3. Laudamus te (Sopranos I and II) / 4. Gratias agimus tibi (Chorus) / 5. Propter magnam gloriam (Chorus) / 6. Domine Deus (Soprano) / 7. Domine, Fili unigenite (Chorus) / 8. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (Contralto and Chorus) / 9. Qui tollis peccata mundi (Chorus) / 10. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Contralto) / 11. Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Chorus) / 12. Cum Sancto Spiritu (Chorus)
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Gloria (Vivaldi)
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