Cantate Domino by Claudio Monteverdi
It's a psalm setting by Monteverdi: Cantate Domino for Six Voices, published in a 1620 collection of motets by Giulio Cesare Bianchi. Bianchi was a cornettist who worked in Mantova during Monteverdi's time there. Around the time Monteverdi left for Venice, Bianchi decamped for Cremona. Four motets by Monteverdi appear in the 1620 collection, along with many works by Bianchi himself.
Monteverdi set psalms over the entire course of his career. His settings range from small-scale solos and duets to quintets with continuo (as in the posthumous 1650 collection) to magnificent choral-orchestral works such as those found in the Vespers of 1610 and the Selva Morale of 1641.
Our motet this week falls somewhere in the middle of this range. Scored for six voices and continuo, it is an exciting setting of several famous lines from Psalms 96 and 98, exhorting the Christian believer to sing and rejoice and play instruments to celebrate the marvelous gifts of God.
Monteverdi matches the excitement of the opening text with a breathless triple-time introductory passage in four voices. This is then repeated with all six voices, leading to a cosmic setting of 'For he hath done marvelous things'. In duple time, the exhortation to 'Sing, rejoice and give thanks' leads to a stirring (and onomatopoetic) passage on 'Sing to the harp with a psalm'. The piece closes with a reprise of the cosmic setting noted above.
It's an exciting listen, and well worth printing out to sing on your own and over the recording. As usual, I'm including all the materials you might need for these activities.
It's a psalm setting by Monteverdi: Cantate Domino for Six Voices, published in a 1620 collection of motets by Giulio Cesare Bianchi. Bianchi was a cornettist who worked in Mantova during Monteverdi's time there. Around the time Monteverdi left for Venice, Bianchi decamped for Cremona. Four motets by Monteverdi appear in the 1620 collection, along with many works by Bianchi himself.
Monteverdi set psalms over the entire course of his career. His settings range from small-scale solos and duets to quintets with continuo (as in the posthumous 1650 collection) to magnificent choral-orchestral works such as those found in the Vespers of 1610 and the Selva Morale of 1641.
Our motet this week falls somewhere in the middle of this range. Scored for six voices and continuo, it is an exciting setting of several famous lines from Psalms 96 and 98, exhorting the Christian believer to sing and rejoice and play instruments to celebrate the marvelous gifts of God.
Monteverdi matches the excitement of the opening text with a breathless triple-time introductory passage in four voices. This is then repeated with all six voices, leading to a cosmic setting of 'For he hath done marvelous things'. In duple time, the exhortation to 'Sing, rejoice and give thanks' leads to a stirring (and onomatopoetic) passage on 'Sing to the harp with a psalm'. The piece closes with a reprise of the cosmic setting noted above.
It's an exciting listen, and well worth printing out to sing on your own and over the recording. As usual, I'm including all the materials you might need for these activities.