SSSSAAAATTTTBBBB + continuo
Born in Venice, Caldara held court musical appointments in Mantua, Rome, and from 1716, Vienna, where he served the Emperor Charles VI. Among his other duties he was required to write music for the court’s Lenten observances, and this exceptional Crucifixus could have been written for one of these. Caldara handles the sixteen voices with great skill and expressiveness; his superior at the Vienna court was the legendary contrapuntist Fux, and it is tempting to wonder whether Caldara wanted to display his own contrapuntal mastery for the approval of the older maestro. After Caldara’s death, the piece was evidently remembered and admired: it was published and performed in Berlin in the 1830s, when the revival of old music was just beginning, and in 1906 it was included in a volume of Caldara’s music from the Viennese court.

from notes by John Rutter © 1994