Handel's decision to travel to Rome near the end of
that first Italian year (or perhaps at the start of the
next) must have been a bit counterproductive, since
Papal edict had put an end to all theatrical
entertainment in the city all the way back in 1677.
Handel had no trouble finding employment as a composer
of pure sacred music, however, and spring and summer of
1707 saw the composition of a large proportion of his
wonderful Latin-texted choral works, including the
large-scale Dixit Dominus f...(+)
Handel's decision to travel to Rome near the end of
that first Italian year (or perhaps at the start of the
next) must have been a bit counterproductive, since
Papal edict had put an end to all theatrical
entertainment in the city all the way back in 1677.
Handel had no trouble finding employment as a composer
of pure sacred music, however, and spring and summer of
1707 saw the composition of a large proportion of his
wonderful Latin-texted choral works, including the
large-scale Dixit Dominus for vocal solists, chorus,
and string orchestra, HWV 232.
The Dixit Dominus is a musical setting in eight
sections of Psalm 109, to which is added a setting of
the Lesser Doxology that normally follows the reading
of a psalm. Handel essentially crafted the text into a
half-hour oratorio, finding, as so many Italian
composers had already done, that Church authorities
didn't seem to mind if one indulged in full-blown
operatic style as long as the subject remained
appropriate for sacred services. The lyric arias and
dramatic choruses in the work are very similar to those
one finds in Handel's English oratorios of many decades
later, even if they show a little less aristocratic
flair.
A sizable instrumental introduction, full of dramatic
violin arpeggios, ushers in the opening chorus, "Dixit
Dominus Domine meo." The alto (or, more properly,
countertenor) aria "Virgam virtutis" is by comparison
far more relaxed, while the soprano's first aria offers
the opportunity for both exquisite cantabile and
refined melismatic exercise. The second chorus,
"Iuravit Dominus," is a striking thing, bursting forth
rapidly after a mysterious opening, but then moving
almost immediately back -- via a very dramatic grand
pause -- to the chromatic quagmire of the opening;
again things rush forth, this time maintaining velocity
until the end. The second half of the psalm verse begun
in "Iuravit Dominus" is given in the next chorus, "Tu
es sacerdos." The chorus and five soloists (two
sopranos, alto, tenor, and bass) join forces for the
next two numbers, "Dominus a dextris" and "Iudicabit in
nationibus." "De torrente in via bibet" is a very
dissonant duet for two sopranos, while the final
Doxology ("Gloria Patri...") moves forward along very
melismatic lines. The final Amen is in the traditional
fugal style
Although originally composed for Chorus & Orchestra, I
created this Interpretation of the "Tu es sacerdos"
(You are a priest forever) from "Dixit Dominus" (HWV
232 Mvt. 5) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, French
Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
SHEET MUSIC