Vespro della Beata Vergine
Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin), SV 206, is a musical setting by Claudio Monteverdi of the evening vespers on Marian feasts, scored for soloists, choirs, and orchestra. It is an ambitious work in scope and in its variety of style and scoring, and has a duration of around 90 minutes. Published in Venice (with a dedication to Pope Paul V dated 1 September 1610) as Sanctissimae Virgini Missa senis vocibus ac Vesperae pluribus decantandae, cum nonnullis sacris concentibus, ad Sacella sive Principum Cubicula accommodata ("Mass for the Most Holy Virgin for six voices, and Vespers for several voices with some sacred songs, suitable for chapels and ducal chambers"), it is sometimes called Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610.
Vespro della Beata Vergine
Vespers for the Blessed Virgin
SV 206 and 206a
Biblical and liturgical, including several psalms, a litany, a hymn, and Magnificat
1610 in Venice
90 minutes
- Soloists
- choirs
- orchestra
Monteverdi composed the music while musician and composer for the Gonzagas, the dukes of Mantua. The libretto is compiled from several Latin Biblical and liturgical texts. The thirteen movements include the introductory Deus in adiutorium, five Psalms, four concertato motets and a vocal sonata on the "Sancta Maria" litany, several differently scored stanzas of the hymn "Ave maris stella", and a choice of two Magnificats. A church performance would have included antiphons in Gregorian chant for the specific feast day. The composition demonstrates Monteverdi's ability to assimilate both the new seconda pratica, such as in the emerging opera, and the old style of the prima pratica, building psalms and Magnificat on the traditional plainchant as a cantus firmus. The composition is scored for up to ten vocal parts and instruments including cornettos, violins, viole da braccio, and basso continuo. Monteverdi travelled to Rome to deliver the composition to the Pope in person, and a partbook is held by the Vatican Library.
No performance during the composer's lifetime can be positively identified from surviving documents,[a] though parts of the work might have been performed at the ducal chapels in Mantua and at San Marco in Venice, where the composer became director of music in 1613. The work received renewed attention from musicologists and performers in the 20th century. They have discussed whether it is a planned composition in a modern sense or a collection of music suitable for Vespers, and have debated the role of the added movements, instrumentation, keys and other issues of historically informed performance. The first recording of excerpts from the Vespers was released in 1953; many recordings that followed presented all the music printed in 1610. In some recordings and performances, antiphons for a given occasion of the church year are added to create a liturgical vespers service, while others strictly present only the printed music. Monteverdi's Vespers are regarded as a unique milestone of music history, at the transition from Renaissance to Baroque.
History and context[edit]
Monteverdi in Mantua[edit]
Monteverdi, who was born in Cremona in 1567, was a court musician for the Gonzaga dukes of Mantua from 1590 to 1612. He began as a viol player under Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga[2] and advanced to become maestro della musica in late 1601.[3] He was responsible for the duke's sacred and secular music, in regular church services and soirées on Fridays, and for extraordinary events.[4] While Monteverdi was court musician in Mantua, the opera genre emerged, first as entertainment for nobility, to become public musical theatre later.[5] The first work now considered as an opera is Jacopo Peri's Dafne of 1597. In the new genre, a complete story was told through characters; as well as choruses and ensembles, the vocal parts included recitative, aria, and arioso.[6] Monteverdi's first opera was L'Orfeo which premiered in 1607. The duke was quick to recognise the potential of this new musical form for bringing prestige to those willing to sponsor it.[7]
Monteverdi wrote the movements of the Vespers piece by piece, while responsible for the ducal services which were held at the Santa Croce chapel at the palace.[8] He completed the large-scale work in 1610. He possibly composed the Vespers aspiring to a better position, and the work demonstrates his abilities as a composer in a great variety of styles.[9] The setting was Monteverdi's first published sacred composition after his initial publications nearly thirty years before and stands out for its assimilation of both the old and the new styles.[10]
Music[edit]
Structure[edit]
Vespro della Beata Vergine is made up of 13 sections.[36][38] The "Ave maris stella" is in seven stanzas set to different scoring, with interspersed ritornelli. The Magnificat is in twelve movements, which Monteverdi wrote in two versions.
The following table shows the section numbers according to the 2013 edition by Carus,[36] then the function of the section within the Vespers, its text source, and the beginning of the text both in Latin and in English. The column for the voices has abbreviations SATB for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. A repeated letter means the voice part is divided, for example TT means "tenor 1 and tenor 2". The column for instruments often contains only their number, because Monteverdi did not always specify the instruments. The continuo plays throughout but is listed below (as "continuo") only when it has a role independent of the other instruments or voices. The last column lists the page number of the beginning of the section in the Carus edition.[36]