Hyperion Records

Vivaldi’s hymns, leaving aside the special case of his Stabat Mater, are his simplest, most functional sacred vocal compositions. Following tradition, they are set in strophic fashion, the music for one stanza being used for all the remainder. Where hymns have a great number of stanzas, it is the custom to set them selectively. In a liturgical context, any stanzas not included can be supplied as plainsong or intoned silently by the celebrant.

The hymn Gaude mater Ecclesia belongs liturgically to the feast of St Dominic on 4 August. This feast was not celebrated with any degree of pomp at the Pietà, so, although the hymn appears to date from the period of Ascende laeta, it was probably written to fulfil a commission from a Dominican house in Venice or elsewhere. The verses set are nos 1, 2 and 5 (specifically including the two that mention the name of the order’s founder). Vivaldi reproduces the symmetry of the quatrains by casting each stanza in binary form (with one couplet per section); an instrumental ritornello introduces each stanza.

from notes by Michael Talbot © 2003