Missa 1724

The origin of much of the Gloria, ZWV 30 is found in one of Zelenka’s earliest musical settings of the Ordinary of the Mass, the Missa Judica me, ZWV 2, probably from the year 1714, which has not been preserved in its entirety (we have only the Credo and Gloria).

It was a revised version of the Gloria from the early 1720s that became the basis for the separately composed Gloria, ZWV 30 (1724). The original ZWV 2 version does not call for trombones, and only in the fugal Cum Sancto Spiritu do we find later instructions for the doubling of the vocal lines with trombones.

In the Gloria from 1724, however, Zelenka explicitly calls for three trombones, and their role is not limited solely to doubling vocal lines. Instead, in the Qui tollis II he lets the special colour of these instruments stand out in combination with the solo soprano and alto.

The Gloria, ZWV 30, is not merely a parody of an older original. Instead, it is a unique work in its own right, with an entirely different structure from the Gloria in the Missa Judica me.

In the opening chorus of the Gloria we find only slight differences, such as shortened orchestral ritornellos. On the other hand, the brilliant aria that follows, Laudamus te, is entrusted to the tenor in the revised version instead of the soprano in the original.

In the Missa Judica me, after the chorus Gratias agimus tibi Zelenka continues with the relatively conventional soprano aria Domine Deus, followed by the brief homophonic chorus Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Next comes a tenor aria with the text Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram and the brief chorus Qui sedes.

In both versions, the virtuosic aria Quoniam tu solus is entrusted to a solo bass, and the form of the concluding Cum Sancto Spiritu is also identical in structure, with the text first declaimed in a homophonic introduction, then given a sophisticated treatment in a double fugue.

In the revised 1724 version, the whole section of the text from Gratias agimus tibi to Qui tollis peccata mundi is skilfully shaped into a single, vast arch, with the concluding chromatic fugue Qui tollis serving as the climax.

The instrumentation of the following quartet of soprano, alto, and two trombones with basso continuo accompaniment (Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram) is reminiscent of the musical language of Zelenka’s teacher Johann Joseph Fux.

The Credo, ZWV 32, is conceived as an eight-voice double chorus with dialogue framed by a virtuosically conceived orchestral concerto.

This manner of combining vocal and instrumental components is a foreshadowing of Zelenka’s mature style of the 1730s and ’40s.

The free handling of dissonances and the unusual voice leading in the eight-part vocal writing of the concluding Amen are tremendously effective.

The Benedictus, ZWV deest, stands somewhat apart from the historical context of the other movements of the imaginary ‘Missa 1724’.

Zelenka worked in Dresden as not only a composer, but also an arranger of music by other composers, which he adapted to the needs of the court church and to the tastes of Dresden’s listeners.

One of the many compositions that Zelenka probably adapted in this manner in the early 1730s was the festive Missa à 5 by the obscure Italian composer Giovanni Pisani. For the missing Benedictus, Zelenka added one of his own, and the little composition has been preserved down to the present as part of Pisani’s Mass.

The Marian antiphon Salve Regina, ZWV 137, is a very skilful parody of the Canzon quarti toni from the collection Fiori musicali by Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643), the famed organist at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

Zelenka studied the works of the old Italian masters intensively while receiving instruction from Johann Joseph Fux in Vienna in 1716–1719, and he brought back to Dresden a copy of Fiori musicali made in his own hand.

The remarkable reworking of Frescobaldi’s canzona also attracted the attention of Gottlob Harrer (1703–1755), who later succeeded J. S. Bach as the Thomas Cantor in Leipzig. It is thanks to Harrer’s copy that this work has been preserved in the collection of the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin.