Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) was an Italian
Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and
cleric. Born in Venice, he is recognized as one of the
greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during
his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He composed
many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a
variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral
works and more than forty operas. His best-known work
is a series of violin concertos known as The Four
Seasons.
Many of...(+)
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) was an Italian
Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and
cleric. Born in Venice, he is recognized as one of the
greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during
his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He composed
many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a
variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral
works and more than forty operas. His best-known work
is a series of violin concertos known as The Four
Seasons.
Many of his compositions were written for the female
music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for
abandoned children where Vivaldi (who had been ordained
as a Catholic priest) was employed from 1703 to 1715
and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success
with expensive stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua
and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI,
Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for preferment.
However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival,
and Vivaldi himself died less than a year later in
poverty.
He wrote at least three settings of the hymn Gloria in
excelsis Deo, whose words date probably from the 4th
Century and which is an integral part of the Ordinary
of the Mass. Two survive: RV 588 and RV 589. A third,
RV 590, is mentioned only in the Kreuzherren catalogue
and presumed lost. The RV 589 Gloria is a familiar and
popular piece among sacred works by Vivaldi. It was
probably written at about the same time as the RV 588,
possibly in 1715.
The lesser known of the two surviving Glorias, RV 588
was most likely composed during Vivaldi's employment at
the Pio Ospedale della Pietà, known for its advanced
choral ensemble. The first movement is interwoven with
the last aria of RV 639, as explained above. The date
of composition between this Gloria and RV 589 is still
disputed, but both show compositional inspiration from
each other.
RV 588 borrows extensively from a double
orchestra-and-choir setting of the same text by
Giovanni Maria Ruggieri (which will henceforth in this
article be referred by its RV cataloguing number of RV.
Anh. 23). Many movements show inspiration from this
composition, and two movements ("Qui Tollis" and "Cum
Sancto Spiritu") are plagiarised from the original
Ruggieri setting (although "Qui Tollis" completely
omits the second coro (chorus), and "Cum Sancto
Spiritu" is slightly modified). The first movement of
RV 588 is also an extended version of RV Anh. 23, sans
the second coro employed in RV Anh. 23, among other
musical modifications. The second movements of both RV
588 and RV 589 ("Et in Terra Pax") both show chromatic
patterns and key modulations similar to that of the
second movement of RV Anh. 23.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_(Vivaldi)).
Although originally written for Baroque Orchestra, I
created this Arrangement of the RV 589 (Nos. 4&5)
"Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam" (we
give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory) for Winds
(Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet & Bassoon) & Strings (2
Violins, Viola & Cello).
SHEET MUSIC