Can anyone shed light on the given title to this work - 'Vesperae solennes de confessore'
Its the 'confessore' bit that puzzles me. My basic Latin tells me this is one word for priest and I fully understand that up until the time of Mozart and Pope Benedict 14th, Vespers would have been sung exclusively by those ordained. So, in the light of the relaxation by Benedict and Archbishop Colloredo of Vienna, to allow secularisation of some religious music, would Mozart ascribe this work as being that of 'a priest'?
I've not been able to track this down in any reference book, but perhaps there's someone out there that does know??
As for the rest of the Latin text - I can manage to follow most of Psalms 110-113 and part 117, and of course the Magnificat - but if anyone does have a definitive translation it might be helpful to further understand the text we're singing.
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My choir in Amiens 'l'ensemble polyphonique de Picardie recently sang the Vespers and I'm sending a recording of our concert to Christine' One of our members found the following reponse to your question."Famed for the beauty of its solo soprano aria Laudate Dominum (Psalm 116),
ReplyDeletethe Vesperae solennes de confessore is the second of two settings of the
early evening Vespers service composed by Mozart for liturgical use in
Salzburg Cathedral. Both date from shortly after the composer returned from
the abortive trip to Paris which witnessed the death of his mother, a period
which also saw the composition of two important masses, "Coronation" Mass,
K. 317, and the Mass in C, K. 337. The first, the Vesperae solennes de
Dominica in C, K. 321 dates from 1779, the present work from 1780. Like its
predecessor, K. 339 follows the standard Catholic liturgy in including the
Magnificat and the five psalms utilized in the Vespers service. In addition
to the concluding Laudate Dominum they are as follows: Dixit Dominus (Ps.
109), Confitebur tibi (Ps. 110), Beatus vir (Ps. 111), and Laudate pueri
(Ps. 112). In liturgical context, the Magnificat and each of the psalms were
prefaced and followed by a plainsong antiphon. The two settings are
identically scored for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists and chorus,
with an orchestration including bassoon, two trumpets, three trombones,
strings, and organ. The addition "de confessore" (not Mozart's own) suggests
that the work may have been employed for a saint's day, although no specific
connection has been established. "Solennes," incidentally, simply indicates
that the work has orchestral accompaniment. As in the earlier setting,
Mozart composed some of his boldest Salzburg church music in the first three
psalms, while Laudate pueri, like the parallel movement in K. 321, is an
exercise in strict, old-fashioned counterpoint, a movement in total contrast
to the tranquil radiant beauty of Laudate Dominum. Here Mozart does vary
from K. 321 in allowing the choir to steal in quietly halfway through. More
than in the Salzburg masses, the two Vespers settings reveal a personal side
of Mozart's approach to sacred music. To Alfred Einstein, "anyone who does
not know such settings does not know Mozart." Two years after Mozart settled
in Vienna in 1781, he wrote to ask his father to send the two Vespers
settings to him in order that he could perform them to Baron van Swieten,
the eccentric nobleman who had introduced him to the works of Bach and
Handel. ~ Brian Robins, All Music Guide"
Shân Williams Amiens
You will learn all you need to know about the circumstances of its composition, and the meaning of the title, by reading this paper.
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