Dismas Zelenka Missa Hunger

First revived in the 1970s, Bohemian composer Jan Dismas Zelenka was once touted as the Arcimboldo of music owing to the bizarre twists and turns of his instrumental music, which accounts for only a tiny part of his output. While this was effective marketing and won him a certain avant-garde cachet, the vast majority of Zelenka's music is of the sacred vocal variety, and overall it is probably more useful to view him as a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach able to pursue professionally what the proudly Lutheran Bach could only do vicariously: compose Catholic service music.

For anyone who likes to dip back into the old world of modern instrument and larger ensemble baroque performance, this is a good opportunity to hear Zelenka performed that way. There is some outstanding singing from the two female soloists, especially in the first duet of the Gloria, and the choir, in terms of old style large groups, is actually one of the best focused I have heard, comparable to the best recordings from St.Hedwig's, for example.

The Missa Votiva, ZWV 18, of Czech-German composer Jan Dismas Zelenka was written in 1739, late in Zelenka's life. It has something in common with the String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132, of Beethoven: both are late works written as prayers of thanksgiving after their respective composers' recovery from serious illness. And, although the Zelenka work is virtually unknown, both are staggering masterpieces. The more Zelenka's music surfaces, the more he appears a major composer of the late Baroque; he was probably ignored for so long because his life story, during eras when audiences loved to have biographies on which to hang music, is largely obscure.

Bohemian composer Jan Zelenka (1679-1745) spent the last 35 years of his life in Dresden, first as a double bass player and then as composer for the court, writing primarily for the church. This monumental Mass (“in honor of God the Father”) is one of several he composed in the last years of his life, and its structure–the main parts of the mass are subdivided into smaller sections–allows for a wide variety of scoring, including different configurations of soloists, solo arias, chorus alone, and chorus with solo singers.

Jan Dismas Zelenka - Missa Sanctae Caeciliae, Currite ad aras - Ensemble Inégal, Adam Viktora (2019) {Nibiru 016672231}
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© 2019 Nibiru | 016672231
Classical / Baroque / Vocal / Period Instruments

With this recording of Missa Sanctae Caeciliae (ZWV 1) and the motet Currite ad Aras (ZWV 166) two ‘firsts’ of Zelenka are presented: Missa Sanctae Caeciliae is his earliest mass composition, and Currite ad Aras is the first-known work written after Zelenka was sent to Vienna in 1716.

Extraordinarily well-written, prodigiously inventive, and relentlessly exciting–these aren’t terms normally used to describe 18th-century Masses, but then there is nothing “normal” about this late work by Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka. Simply put, if you aren’t acquainted with Zelenka (or if you’ve experienced a previous aversion to Masses), when you hear this piece-a substantial and powerful conception, from the first note of the Kyrie to the final chord of the Dona nobis pacem-you will wonder why this composer does not enjoy much greater esteem and popularity with performers, particularly alongside J.S. Bach (his contemporary) and Mozart.

Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679–1745) is one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of Baroque music. Very little is known of his early years, where he studied and who taught him. Born in a village to the south of Prague, he later travelled to Dresden where he joined the court of the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich August I. His position at the court was a lowly one, but he nonetheless composed many works there and his output of church music was particularly prolific.

Zelenka was the most important Bohemian composer before Gluck. He wrote no operas and few instrumental works, but a great body of sacred music for the Catholic court at Dresden plus a few choice secular works. His music is characterized by passus duriusculus – chromatic descent. Another distinguishing characteristic is slow triplets – not infrequently used by Zelenka, though rarely heard in the works of better known late baroque composers.