Magnificat (Vivaldi)

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Church of the Ospedale della Pietà , Venice

Magnificat are sacred compositions by Antonio Vivaldi that set the Magnificat to music for choir and orchestra. The best known version is RV 610 in the Ryom directory , while a later version containing five new arias is cataloged as RV 611 .

history

Vivaldi worked in Venice at the Ospedale della Pietà , an orphanage for girls with a music school, as a priest, conductor, violinist and house composer. He set to music several times the Magnificat , the hymn of praise of Mary from the Gospel of Luke , which is a regular part of Vesper services . Musicologists disagree about the dating of the works. Michael Talbot assumes that Vivaldi wrote the earliest version in G minor around 1715 for the Ospedale and that it was copied shortly afterwards for a Cistercian monastery in Osek. In the 1720s he revised the work by, among other things, rewriting the lower voices for male voices, and using two oboes in addition to a string orchestra, which mainly take on mandatory roles in the penultimate movement . This version was given the number 610 in the Ryom directory . Vivaldi prescribed two choirs, sometimes singing individually, sometimes at the same time, but always kept four-part movements. In a later version, RV 611, Vivaldi kept the choral movements, but replaced the three movements for solo voices with five more detailed arias in which certain girls of the Ospedale named in the score could demonstrate their vocal skills.

Structure and occupation

Vivaldi divided the Magnificat, RV 610, into nine sentences, eight for the text of the hymn of praise (Luke 1, 46–55) and the last sentence for the doxology (Gloria Patri). The work is in G minor and requires two soprano soloists, alto and tenor , a four-part choir ( SATB ), two oboes, violins I and II, viola, and basso continuo, for example cello and organ. The following table shows for the movements: title, voices, tempo designation , measure , key and text source. A performance lasts approximately 15 minutes. Performances of RV 611 are given as 20 minutes.

Sentences from Vivaldi's Magnificat, RV 610
No. title be right tempo Tact key Text source
1 Magnificat SATB adagio 4/4 G minor Luke 1.46
2 Et exultavit SAT Allegro 4/4 B flat major Lk 1.47-49
3 Et misericordia SATB Andante molto 4/4 C major Lk 1.50
4th Fecit potentiam SATB Presto 3/4 A major Lk 1.51
5 Deposuit potentes de sede SATB (unison) Allegro 3/4 G minor Lk 1,52-53
6th Esurientes implevit bonis SS Allegro 4/4 B flat major Lk 1.53
7th Suscepit Israel SATB largo 4/4 D minor Lk 1.54
8th Sicut locutus est SAB Allegro ma poco 4/4 F major Lk 1.55
9 Gloria patri SATB largo 2/2 G minor Doxology
Visitation , Mary's visit to Elisabeth, 17th century painting

Vivaldi interpreted the individual verses of the hymn of praise with different musical material, but he kept the work short and concentrated. Talbot discussed the sentences for a recording with The King's Consort and Choir:

In the first movement, “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” (My soul exalts the Lord), the exaltation appears in slowly upward chromaticism .

The three verses that are set to music in the second movement are assigned to different voices, in an aria a tre . “Et exultavit spiritus meus” (and my spirit rejoices) is sung by the soprano, “Quia respexit humilitatem” (for he has looked at the humility of his maid) by the alto, with the word “omnes” (all) being repeated by the choir. The section “Quia fecit mihi magna” (For he has done great things for me) is sung by the tenor.

The third movement, “Et misericordia ejus”, which deals with God's mercy on those who fear him, appears in a dense texture of imitative inserts, with chromatic lines and large jumps from sixths and sevenths.

The fourth movement, “Fecit potentiam” (He practices violence), is a fast, powerful choral movement.

The verse “Deposuit potentes”, which describes how the mighty are thrown from the throne while the lowly are exalted, graphically depicts what is happening in that the chorus in unison illustrates the downward and upward movement in fast runs.

In the sixth movement, “Esurientes implevit bonis”, two soprano voices sing in a duet, often in parallels of thirds, how the hungry are filled with goods.

The seventh movement, “Suscepit Israel”, is a short homophonic choral movement that expresses that the Lord Israel will be preserved, and in a quicker middle section adds that he thinks of his mercy, “Recordatus misericordiae suae”.

The eighth movement, "Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros" (As he promised our fathers), is a trio for the three upper voices with two obbligato oboes that is described as cheerful and lively.

The last movement brings the final “Gloria Patri” (Glory to the Father) with the same music as at the beginning, with the word “sancto” (holy) emphasized by a long chromatic melisma . “Sicut erat in principio” (As it was in the beginning) also picks up music from the first movement and leads over to a double fugue in which a voice sings “Et in saecula saeculorum” (and from eternity to eternity) while put another "Amen" against it.

expenditure

Carus-Verlag published two versions of Vivaldi's Magnificat in 1978, RV 610 and RV 611. In 2004, Bärenreiter published an arrangement of both versions for voices and organ.

Recordings

In 1994 The King's Consort and Choir recorded the Magnificat, RV 610, directed by Robert King. A recording from 2002 was made by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir with soloists and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste . In 2015 the work was recorded together with Vivaldi's Gloria by Le Concert Spirituel , directed by Hervé Niquet . In this recording, the soprano and alto voices sing the solo sections. The performance was also shown at the Oude Muziek Festival in Utrecht.

Web links

Commons : Magnificat (Antonio Vivaldi)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Paul Horn: Foreword (PDF) October 23, 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Michael Talbot : Magnificat, RV610a ( en ) Hyperion Records. 1994. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c d Robert Hugill: Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) / Kyrie, RV 587 / Gloria in D Major, RV 589 / Credo, RV 591 / Magnificat RV 610 ( en ) February 2013. Accessed November 13, 2019.
  4. ^ Walter Kolneder: Antonio Vivaldi: His Life and Work ( en ). University of California Press, 1970, ISBN 978-0-520-01629-3 , p. 204.
  5. ↑ a b c Vivaldi, Antonio / Magnificat RV 610/611 / arranged for solos, choir and organ . 2004. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  6. ^ Antonio Vivaldi: Magnificat / RV 610 . 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  7. ↑ Vivaldi: Gloria; Magnificat / Vivaldi / Le Concert Spirituel / Herve Niquet ( English ) 2016. Accessed November 13, 2019.
  8. ^ Johan van Veen: Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741): “Gloria - Magnificat” ( en ) 2016. Accessed on November 13, 2019.