Dallas, Texas - Christ the King Church - Gloria in Excelsis Deo, Antonio Vivaldi

$

25

Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Antonio Vivaldi

The King's Choristers
Christ the King Church
Dallas, Texas

Arthur D. Smith, Director
Robert O. Cobb, Organist
John D. Newall, Organist

Laudate Records

Condition of jacket:  Very good, some rubbing and ring wear. Opens from the top edge.

Condition of record:  Excellent, very glossy, appears nearly as new.

Side One:
1. Gloria
2. Et In Terra Pax
3. Laudamus Te
4. Gratias Agimus Tibi
5. Propter Magnam Gloriam
6. Domine Deus
7. Domine Fili Unigenite
 
Side Two:
1. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei
9. Qui Tollis Peccata
10. Qui Sedes Ad Dexteram
11. Quoniam Tu Solus
12. Cum Sancto Spiritu
13. O Scared Head - Kellner
14. Sound the Trumpet - Purcell

From the back of the jacket:

Gloria In D Major:

Antonio Vivaldi — priest and musician — was born around 1675 in Venice and died in Vienna in 1741. Aside from the talents evidenced in this work, Vivaldi was one of the great virtuoso violinists of his day, and as such greatly influenced the development of the violin concerto.

He was a man so far ahead of his age, in his love for the joys of virtuoso playing when combined with solid musicianship, that he was often thought facile and flashy in his own day. When, after nearly a hundred years, his music gained some recognition it was more often than not in the form of a transcription by Bach or some other composer. Recognition of Vivaldi as a remarkable musical talent has been fairly recent.

The "Gloria" contained on this recording was discovered in a pile of old manuscripts in Turin by Alfredo Casella and first performed by him in 1939- It is the original edition by Casella, published by G. Ricordi in 1941, which the Choristers have used for this recording.

The Gloria as such is the second of the six divisions which form the ordinary of the Mass. The length of Vivaldi's setting precludes its use in liturgical service. We may safely assume that Vivaldi, the priest, would never have thought to create a work which in its dimensions would have matched the great B Minor Mass of J. S. Bach. He has rather approached this holy text as a religious creative musician and produced a work of power, imagination and diversity which surprises the listener over and over again.

O Sacred Head Now Wounded:

This moving setting of Gerhardt's immortal Passion hymn is a transcription by an anonymous Moravian Church musician of a chorale-prelude by Bach's pupil Johann Peter Kellner (1705-1772).

Kellner's chorale-prelude, as you will immediately recognize, makes use of Hassler's original tune which became the great Lutheran, chorale, "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden". With these words, "O Sacred Head now wounded", Hassler's melody has been one of the finest hymns in Christian culture. Perhaps this melody's most famous arranger was J. S. Bach who gave it a place of prominence in the "Saint Matthew Passion".

O Sacred Head, now wounded
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns Thine only crown;
O Sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss, till now was Thine!
Yet though despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine.

Sound The Trumpet:

Henry Purcell (a.1659-1695) was lionized by his native England in his day chiefly as an opera composer. Besides his operas and semi-operas however, he wrote a considerable amount of chamber music; fantasias and sonatas for Harpsichord; and much formal church music as well as a tremendous amount of incidental music for various functions of the English Royal Court and Chapel.

The often criticized traits of superficiality and secularism in his music, especially his church music, are merely a reflection of the curious function of music in English Restoration Society. Unlike the Italian, German, and French, the prime object of the court music of England was to provide sensuous entertainment and sonorous background. Purcell, reared in this atmosphere, accepted the conventions and mannerisms of the court society without question.

Within these grave limitations, he nevertheless produced a number of profound works of art. The "Sound the Trumpet" heard here is most certainly pleasing if not altogether profound.

Sound the trumpet 'til around
the listening shores rebound.
On the spritely oboe play;
All the instruments of joy
in skillful members now employ;
To celebrate the glories of this day!

About The King's Choristers:
The King's Choristers — a liturgical choir of 35 boys and 15 men — is the parish choir of Christ the King Church, Dallas, Texas. They were organized in 1956 by their present director Arthur D. Smith.

Other recordings by the Choristers include THE CHRISTMAS STORY, a beautiful album of eleven Christmas selections alternating with the story of the Nativity according to the Scriptures. Narrator for this album is the Rt. Rev. Msgr. W. J. Bender, pastor of Christ the King Church, Dallas.