Vivaldi: Gloria in D major, RV 589 | Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel

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Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria in D major was forgotten for centuries. Today, the sacred work is one of the best-known pieces by the Italian Baroque composer. This performance was given by Le Concert Spirituel conducted by Hervé Niquet at the Chapel of the Trinity in Lyon, France, during the 32nd Lyon Baroque Music Festival in December 2014.

(00:00) I. Gloria in excelsis Deo
(02:23) II. Et in terra pax
(05:37) III. Laudamus te
(07:51) IV. Gratias agimus tibi
(08:14) V. Propter magnam gloriam tuam
(09:14) VI. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis
(12:48) VII. Domine, Fili unigenite
(14:54) VIII. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei
(18:16) IX. Qui tollis peccata mundi
(19:15) X. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris
(21:33) XI. Quoniam tu solus sanctus
(22:18) XII. Cum Sancto Spiritu

In the late 19th century, research into Bach also uncovered forgotten works by Antonio Vivaldi. The Italian composer had refrained from publishing printed scores for fear of their being copied illegally. In addition, he was able to earn more from the sale of his handwritten manuscripts, which meant that only a few of them entered circulation. His Gloria RV 589 in D major, which is so famous today, lay dormant for a long time in the hidden cellars of a monastery. The work for three solo voices, four-part mixed choir, strings, oboe, trumpet and basso continuo was performed for the first time in Siena in 1939. The twelve individual movements from the Gloria are structured like a cantata and are reminiscent of the Gloria from Bach's Mass in B minor in some places. Bach had taken an interest in Vivaldi and adapted some of his concertos.

During his lifetime, Antonio Vivaldi was famous as a great composer of operas. He composed his sacred vocal and instrumental works mostly while a music teacher at the Ospedale della Pietà, where he taught, with interruptions, from 1703 until 1716, remaining associated with the institution in the years that followed. The Ospedale della Pietà was an orphanage for girls as well as one of four major music schools in Venice.

A priest by training, Vivaldi provided excellent musical education for orphaned and abandoned girls. The fame of the girls' orchestras and choirs spread far beyond Italy's borders, attracting interested visitors from all over Europe to experience the young women's concerts. It is said that they had to perform behind a screen so the audience would not be distracted from the music by their beauty.

The violin virtuoso Antonio Vivaldi composed instrumental concertos and oratorios for the young women to perform at weekly concerts. He also wrote special pieces for religious holidays, like his Gloria RV 589 in D major, a liturgical extolment of the Lord, composed around 1715 or 1716.

It is a joyful, buoyant work, brought to life by the alternation of the individual sections, in terms of both instrumentation and the tempi, style, meter and key. Vivaldi’s original instrumentation called for timpani and trumpets to provide a celebratory mood. Le Concert Spirituel dispenses with wind instruments for this recording, using strings, basso continuo and the women's choir to provide the festive ambience in the passages in question.

French conductor and harpsichordist Hervé Niquet founded Le Concert Spirituel in 1987, naming it after a Parisian concert society that was popular in the 18th century. The group tours regularly and is known for performing French and sacred music with a special focus on bringing long-forgotten works back into the spotlight.

© Karl More Productions / Festival de Musique Baroque de Lyon - 2014

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