The text of the Magnificat is the Canticle of the Virgin Mary as given in the Gospel of St. Magnificat for Chorus, Two Oboes, Strings and Continuo in G minor, R. The work’s style and form are borrowed from his instrumental concertos, with a returning orchestral refrain framing vocal episodes that generally rotate through a succession of alto solo, soprano duet and finally chorus.

598), for two sopranos, alto and choir, is one of his longest continuous movements. The Beatus vir text comprises nine verses, and Vivaldi’s version in B-flat major (R. 597 and 598 in Peter Ryom’s authoritative catalog), probably during his stint composing sacred music for the Pietà from 1713 to 1719. In the Roman Catholic liturgy, Psalm 112 - Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments - is included in the Vespers service for Sunday evening. So well did Vivaldi dispense his duties in this discipline that in March 1715, the Ospedale’s directors awarded him an exceptional gift of 50 ducats “for excellent musical compositions contributed after the departure of Maestro Gasparini.” Vivaldi was then charged with composing two new Masses and Vespers a year (for Easter and the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom the Ospedale’s church was consecrated), at least two motets a month, special music for Holy Week, and such additional pieces as might be required for funerals or other special occasions. Vivaldi’s chief responsibility as violin teacher and director of the public concerts at the Pio Ospedale della Pietà, one of four institutions in Venice devoted to the care of orphaned, abandoned and poor girls, was to produce instrumental music, but he was also pressed into service to write sacred works when Francesco Gasparini left his post as church composer at the Ospedale in 1713 to move to Rome. In addition to nearly forty cantatas, 45 operas (!) and three oratorios, there are some sixty Mass movements, Psalms, hymns, antiphons, motets and miscellaneous pieces for service use. Though Antonio Vivaldi is memorialized in the history textbooks for his profound influence on the development of instrumental music, he was also known to his contemporaries for the breadth and quality of his sacred and secular works for voice. My Symphony - Volume 64 Issue 3 Program Notes Vivaldi's Gloriaīeatus vir (“Blessed Is the Man”) for Two Soprano and Alto Soloists, Chorus, Strings and Continuo in B-flat major, R.

Gloria vivaldi