Hyperion Records

The Litaniae de Venerabili Sacramento in C major (Z147) were, according to a note on the autograph, completed on 1 June 1727. They were written for the Corpus Christi procession on 12 June which, out of consideration for the Protestant public, did not take place out of doors but inside the Catholic court church. Two works by Heinichen were also performed at the same occasion. According to the Dresden tradition, Zelenka structured his litany into a series of single musical numbers in which he skilfully highlighted scoring and compo­sitional technique. The style of these eleven movements is predominantly old-fashioned, with contrapuntal craftsmanship interrupted by those occasional harmonic twists which create such individuality in Zelenka’s writing. Zelenka creates an overall framework by the reintroduction of the music of Kyrie II into the concluding Agnus Dei.

from notes by Peter Wollny © 2003
English: Viola Scheffel