Dixit Dominus (Handel)

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Dixit Dominus ( HWV 232) is a setting of Psalm 110 in the Latin version of the Vulgate (there Psalm 109) by Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759).

Emergence

Handel composed this work at the age of 21 during his three-year stay in Italy. He started (so it is assumed) with the piece when he was staying for a short time in Venice and Florence (?) And finished it on April 11, 1707, when he had already arrived in Rome . Dixit Dominus is - after Laudate pueri (HWV 236) for solo soprano and strings - the earliest surviving sacred work of Handel. a. the two psalm settings Laudate pueri (HWV 237) and Nisi Dominus (HWV 238), also in Latin, and his first Italian opera Rodrigo in October .

The Dixit Dominus was possibly commissioned by Cardinal Carlo Colonna (1665–1739). A performance of the work as part of Vespers for the annual feast of the Carmelite Order on July 16 and 17, 1707 in the Roman church of Santa Maria in Montesanto on the Piazza del Popolo is likely, but not proven. Handel conducted the music on at least one of these holidays (if not both). His second Laudate pueri , his Nisi Dominus , his Antiphone Haec est Regina virginum and Te decus virgineum (HWV 235 and 243) and his motet Saeviat tellus inter rigores (HWV 240), possibly also his Salve Regina (HWV 241 ).

construction

The basic key is G minor. The work consists of nine movements, the text of the last movement, the doxology , not being part of the psalm. The performance lasts around 35–40 minutes.

sentence Type Latin text (Vulgate) German translation
1 Choir Dixit Dominus Domino meo, sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum. The Lord said to my master, Sit at my right hand until I lay down your enemies as a footstool for your feet.
2 Aria (alto) Virgam virtutis tuae emits Dominus ex Sion: dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum. The Lord sends the scepter of your power out of Zion: Rule in the midst of your enemies!
3 Aria (1st soprano) Tecum principium in the virtutis tuae, in splendoribus sanctorum. Ex utero ante luciferum used. With you is kingship in the day of your power, in the splendor of the saints.

I conceived you from my lap before the morning star.

4th Choir Iuravit Dominus et non paenitebit eum. The Lord has sworn it and he will not repent.
5 Choir Do it sacerdos in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchizedech. You are a priest for eternity according to the order of Melchizedek.
6th Soloists and Choir Dominus a dextris tuis, confregit in the irae suae reges. The Lord is on your right hand, smashing kings in the day of his wrath.
7th Choir Judicabit in nationibus implebit ruinas. Conquassabit capita in terra multorum. He will judge among the nations; he will pile up the dead. He will crush the heads of the land of many (peoples).
8th Duet (sopranos) with choir (tenor and bass) De torrente in via bibet: propterea exaltabit caput. He will drink from the brook by the way: therefore he will lift up his head.
9 Choir Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto: sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, so now and all time and forever. Amen.

occupation

Five soloists (2 soprano, alto, tenor, bass), five-part choir (2 soprano, alto, tenor, bass) and orchestra (violin I + II, viola I + II, cello, double bass and figured bass)

literature

  • Friedrich Chrysander: GF Handel - 1st volume , Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig, 1858.
  • Alan Dergal Rautenberg: Handel's Laudate pueri - Scoring : Example of two musical traditions? , in GF Handel. Departure to Italy , viella, Rome 2013, pp. 151–174, esp. 159–161.
  • Graham Dixon: Handel's Music for the Carmelites: A Study in Liturgy and some Observations on Performance , in Early Music 15/1 (1987), pp. 16-29.
  • Ursula Kirkendale: Handel at Ruspoli. New documents from the Archivio Segreto Vaticano , December 1706 to December 1708 ", in Handel-Jahrbuch 50 (2004), pp. 309–376.
  • Hans Joachim Marx : Handel's Latin church music and its historical context. In: Göttinger Handel Contributions 5 (1993), pp. 102–144.
  • Paul-Gerhard Nohl: Latin church music texts: history - translation - commentary. Mass, Requiem, Magnificat, Dixit Dominus, Te Deum, Stabat Mater , Bärenreiter Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-7618-1249-3 .

Web links