Kyrie Eleison

Antonio Vivaldi's Kyrie in G minor for double choir and orchestra also dates from the period 1720-1735. It is believed to have been written at the same time as another church opus, the Gloria in B-flat major. The Kyrie in G minor ( RV 587) is the composer's only setting of this text. The Kyrie is made up of three parts included in the obligatory first part of the Mass (Missa Ordinarium) - Kyrie eleison - Christe eleison - Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy, O Christ have mercy, O Lord have mercy). It is distinguished by the fact that it is sung in Greek, compared to the other texts which are sung in Latin. The Lord have mercy prayer is an appeal for "mercy" from man to God, which was ritually accompanied by anointing with aleison (Eleison). In addition, in ancient times, eleia (oil) was considered a medicine with which newborns were also anointed. Vivaldi begins the first movement with an interlude very similar to the beginning of his Magnificat. The second movement, Christe eleison, is represented by duets. The third movement, again Kyrie eleison, is a choral fugue. The manuscripts of the work were only discovered in 1926 in an Italian monastery in Piedmont. Until then, the work was thought to have been lost. There are opinions that the music is a transcription of another work by another author. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was an admirer of Vivaldi, commented on his choral concertos, "I have never heard anything so attractive and so evocative as this music ... in these delightful concerts."