Vivaldi: Gloria

Naile Mehtiyeva included the following information about Vivaldi and his work Gloria in the program booklet:

Italian composer, conductor and violinist Vivaldi is one of the major representatives of the Baroque Era. He is known as the founder of concertos and the composer laying the foundation of programmatic music in music history. Vivaldi’s art influenced many European composers. Bach, for instance, took Vivaldi’s concertos as an example, while he was composing works in this style.

Vivaldi’s rich heritage of creativity includes many operas and cantatas along with instrumental works. These involve sacred works for choir.

Gloria is the prayer said by the choir after “Kyrie eleison” in masses during Christian services. It is also commonly performed independently from the mass. Vivaldi’s Gloria written for soloist, choir and orchestra is a series of twelve movements. The work consisting of parts in different characters resembles a suite in terms of its style. The whole series is dominated by bright, cheerful and energetic music; but there are also gloomy, moving and lyrical episodes which present a contrast.

The first movement, “Gloria in excelsis Deo”, starts with the entry of the orchestra at a fast tempo (Allegro). The choir accompanied by the violin, oboe and trumpet presents bright and energetic music in a ritualistic mood. The first movement demonstrates the jovial atmosphere of the entire work.

The second movement, “Et in terra pax hominibus”, is a gloomy piece of music with lyrical content and at a slower tempo (Andante). The main melody heard from the choir develops in other sounds following imitation-canon styles. This movement with a doleful character offers a contrast after the lively and joyful first movement.

The third movement, “Landamus te” (Allegro), begins with an orchestral opening. The jubilant main theme is performed first by the orchestra and through the duet of the soprano and mezzo. In the fourth movement “Gratias agimus tibi” (Adagio), the slow music with a choral character is interpreted by the choir and perceived as a short introduction to the fifth movement, “Propter magnam gloriam tuam”, written in the form of a fast fugue.

The sixth movement, “Domine Deus Rex caelestis”, at a slow tempo is a piece of music woven with rich melodic lines in a lyrical Siciliana character and presented first through the violin and then solo soprano; it resembles an opera aria. The seventh movement, “Domine Fili Unigenite” (Allegro), is an energetic and joyous piece consisting of flexible, dotted rhythmic figures. Two Adagios performed consecutively (eighth and ninth movements) form the lyrical center of the work. Solo soprano accompanied by the strings presents the free-flowing, funereal melody; the choir braided with moving textures responds to it. Unlike the previous sad movements, the tenth movement, “Qui sedes ad dexteram” (Allegro), has a lively and convivial mood. It presents an aria-like piece of music featuring wide-ranging melodic figurations in solo soprano.

The eleventh movement, “Quoniam tu solus Sanctus” (Allegro), is offered in a ritualistic atmosphere through the interpretation of the vigorous choir with the participation of the oboe and trumpet. Here one can hear the textures of the first movement.

In the twelfth movement “Cum Sancto Spiritu” (Allegro), the choir pursues the line of the previous movement and concludes the work in the form of a fugue in a ceremonial mood.