Monteverdi: Magnificat for 7 voices (1610 Vespers)

Last week we heard Bach proving that, although he was the third choice for his job as Kantor at the Thomaskirche, he could write music which was as good as anything by Telemann or Gaupner. This week we have Monteverdi angling after one of the most prestigious posts in the musical world. While we’re not certain why Monteverdi wrote his Vespers, a number of scholars believe that he used it as his ‘job application’ for the post of maestro di capella in Saint Mark’s in Venice; if he did, it was a great success: he was appointed in 1613.

The score calls for a large ensemble and uses three cornetti. It is tempting to think of these as similar to the modern cornet/trumpet, but this is what they looked (and sounded) like:

and then, of course, there’s the shawm:

Finally, the OED defines doxology as:

The utterance of praise to God; thanksgiving. Obs. b. A short formula of praise to God, esp. one in liturgical use; spec. the Gloria in excelsis or ‘Greater doxology’, the Gloria Patri or ‘Lesser doxology’, or some metrical formula, such as the verse beginning ‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow.’

and the etymology:

ad. med.L. doxologia, a. Gr. [Greek] , abst. n. f. [Greek]- uttering praise, giving glory, glory + - speaking. So F. doxologie. (sorry, the Greek won’t show up on anybody’s computer)

Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as “fair use”, for the purpose of study, and critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of the copyright owner(s).