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Track(s) taken from CDA67487

Memento Domine David a 8 voci da Capella

composer
author of text
Psalm 131 (132)

The King's Consort, Robert King (conductor)
Recording details: February 2004
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Ben Turner
Engineered by Jonathan Stokes & Philip Hobbs
Release date: November 2004
Total duration: 7 minutes 40 seconds
 

Reviews

‘It would be difficult to praise these performances to highly … the clarity and sheer élan here defeat close rival performances by William Christie and Konrad Junghänel’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘No Monteverdi enthusiast will want to be without this superb selection … Robert King's light-footed approach to the big pieces, with brisk speeds and crisp, springy rhythms, keeps up both the momentum and the excitement to produce some thrilling climaxes’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘We have come to expect nothing but first rate perfomances from Robert King and his colleagues, and this recording does not disappoint. Hyperion's recorded sound is clear but warm, sumptuous, and intense, as befits the music’ (American Record Guide)

‘The warmly enveloping acoustic is exactly right for this opulent, exciting music; and Robert King’s trusty group disport themselves with the usual trim gusto. With performances like these I’d be happy if this series rolled on forever’ (The Times)

‘This is another fine issue to add to a series that has now firmly established its credentials as yet one more (brilliently plumed) feather in the respective caps of King and Hyperion’ (Fanfare, USA)
At St Mark’s, ‘Memento Domine David’ (Psalm 131, or, in the Book of Common Prayer, Psalm 132) was sung at Vespers on a number of important feast days during the year, beginning with second Vespers on Christmas Day. For almost all these occasions the Pala d’Oro was opened and double-choir psalms sung in two choirs. In this setting of a long psalm text, Monteverdi comes closer than he does in the eight-part setting of ‘Dixit Dominus’ to the style of simple double-choir chanting that characterizes many St Mark’s psalm settings. Even so, he takes the opportunity to underline the rhetorical force of words such as ‘Ecce’ (‘behold’ – verse 6) and ‘in saeculum saeculi’ (‘for ever and ever’ – verse 14) by tossing them from one choir to the other, or ‘exsultatione exsultabunt’ (‘rejoice with exceeding great joy’ – verse 16) by setting them in triple time.

from notes by John Whenham © 2004

A Saint-Marc, «Memento Domine David» (Psaume 131) était chanté durant les Vêpres lors de certaines fêtes importantes de l’année, à commencer par les secondes Vêpres de Noël. En ces occasions, on découvrait le Pala d’Oro à la vue de tous et les psaumes pour double-chœur étaient chantés avec deux chœurs. Dans cette œuvre composée sur un long extrait du psaume, Monteverdi s’approche plus encore que dans le «Dixit Dominus» à huit voix du style de chant liturgique tout en simplicité pour chœur double qui caractérisait de nombreux psaumes composés pour Saint Marc. Même dans ces circonstances, il en profite pour souligner la force rhétorique de certains mots tels «Ecce» (verset 6) et «in saeculum saeculi» (verset 14) en le faisant rebondir d’un chœur à l’autre, ou encore sur «exsultatione exsultabunt» (verset 16) en le concevant en ternaire.

extrait des notes rédigées par John Whenham © 2004
Français: Isabelle Battioni

In San Marco wurde das „Memento Domine David“ (Psalm 131, bzw. 132 in der Lutherischen Bibel) im Vespergottesdienst an verschiedenen wichtigen Festtagen im Kirchenjahr gesungen, beginnend mit dem zweiten Vespergottesdienst am ersten Weihnachtsfeiertag. Zu fast allen diesen Gelegenheiten wurde die Pala d’Oro geöffnet und es wurden doppelchörige Psalmvertonungen von zwei Chören gesungen. In der vorliegenden Vertonung des langen Psalmtextes kommt Monteverdi dem schlichten doppelchörigen Gesang, der in so vielen Psalmvertonungen von San Marco zu finden ist, näher als in seiner achtstimmigen Vertonung des „Dixit Dominus“. Trotzdem lässt er es sich nicht nehmen, die rhetorische Aussagekraft von Worten wie „Ecce“ („Siehe“ – Vers 6) und „in saeculum saeculi“ („für immer“ – Vers 14) zu unterstreichen, indem er sie zwischen den beiden Chören hin- und herwirft, oder, wie bei „exultatione exultabunt“ („fröhlich“ – Vers 16), sie im Dreiertakt vertont.

aus dem Begleittext von John Whenham © 2004
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Other albums featuring this work

Monteverdi: The Sacred Music, Vol. 3
This album is not yet available for downloadSACDA67487Super-Audio CD — Deleted
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