Composition Details
- Composed by: Giovanni Legrenzi
- Published by: Prima La Musica
- Cat No: LEG004
- Canadian Work: No
- Duration: 4:22
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Sample Tracks:
Recorded by Elektra
Performed in Concert
In Collections
Program Notes:
This exquisite duet was written in the late 17th Century in Venice. Legrenzi was active there as a composer of church music, opera, and instrumental music, and was one of the music teachers at the famed Ospedali – state-run institutions that housed and educated illegitimate girls.
Conductor Notes:
Originally a duet for soprano and alto soloists with basso continuo, we chose this piece as part of a concert celebrating the composers and music of the Venetian Ospedali. Legrenzi’s gift with a vocal line is exquisite, and I found this to be really good for the choir’s vocal technique, at the same time as it’s a beautiful piece of music. A calm and poised opening gives way to a fast triple metre, then a fiery 4/4 full of 16th notes. I was inspired by the performance of Philippe Jaroussky and Marie-Nicole Lemieux, but we didn’t quite take their tempo for the last section!
Text:
Ave, Regina Coelorum, Ave, Domina Angelorum: Salve, radix, salve, porta Ex qua mundo lux est orta: Gaude, Virgo gloriosa, Super omnes speciosa, Vale, o valde decora, Et pro nobis Christum exora.
Translation:
Hail, O Queen of Heaven. Hail, O Lady of Angels Hail! thou root, hail! thou gate From whom unto the world, a light has arisen: Rejoice, O glorious Virgin, Lovely beyond all others, Farewell, most beautiful maiden, And pray for us to Christ.