Miserere in c (Miserere in C minor)

SKU: BR.PB-5594

The Miserere in C minor ZWV 57 is one of the late works of the Bohemian composer Jan Dismas Zelenka, it was the only one to be reprised in Dresden's Hofkirche after his death.

ISBN 9790004214046. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Very Expressive, Please! Jan Dismas Zelenka's musical setting of Psalm 50, Miserere mei Deus, was presumably intended for the 1738 Holy Week. Thus, the composition is situated chronologically between the Missa Sanctissimae Trinitatis (1736)* and the Missa votiva (1739), two compositions from the cycle of Zelenka's five late masses, considered the culmination of his sacred-music work. Strong contrasts are a conspicuous stylistic feature of the Miserere c-moll, which Zelenka moderates by embedding them within the entire work's cyclic arch form. The score and parts of this new edition are based on volume 108 of the series Das Erbe deutscher Musik, which was comprehensively revised by Wolfgang Horn in 2018, especially the preface and the critical report. Zelenka's artistic personality, his biography and his compositional style are utterly distinctive. His style is highly experimental. Was Zelenka really one of the greatest composers of the 18th century, or only one of the most interesting? I think that he still has several surprises for us. (Schweizerische Musikzeitung)Zelenka's Masses - fine specimens of Baroque choral literature, some parts of which are set even more colorfully than in the corresponding compositions by Bach. (Die Welt).

SKU: BR.EB-6656

ISBN 9790004168622. 9 x 12 inches.

Written in 1809, E. T. A. Hoffmanns Miserere remained unprinted and unperformed during the composers lifetime. With its rich contrasts, the work is like a bridge thrown between the musical idiom of his time and the style of the Palestrina school, which Hoffmann so admired. There are a few short five-part a cappella passages that resemble the Palestrina style. Overall, however, the small-segmented structure of the work is definitely noteworthy. None of the twelve movements lasts longer than five minutes. Diary entries confirm the composers inner tension. On 16 January 1809, for example, Hoffmann while working on this piece writes: rather unhealthy state, more like a romantic-religious feeling.

With its rich contrasts, E. T. A. Hoffmann's Miserere is like a bridge thrown between the musical idiom of his time and the style of the Palestrina school, which Hoffmann so admired.

SKU: CA.156900

ISBN 9790007005054. Key: B minor. Language: Latin/German.

SKU: CA.3410311

ISBN 9790007051952. Language: Latin.

Score available separately - see item CA.3410300.

SKU: KU.OCT-10102_HST

ISBN 9790206207280. Key: G minor.