Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745)
- Te Deum laudamus à 5 (c.1724)
Performers: Anne Sophie Petit (soprano); Hélène Walter (soprano);
William Shelton (alto); Gwilym Bowen (tenor); Stephan MacLeod (bass);
Les Ambasadeurs; La Grande Écurie; Alexis Kossenko (conductor)
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Bohemian composer. He was the son of an organist and it is most probable
that he received his early music training from his father. About 1710
he went to Prague, where he attended the Jesuit Clementinum. He also
learned to play the double bass and was a member of the orchestra of
Count Hartog. Upon Hartog's recommendation in 1710, he was accepted as a
member of the Dresden court orchestra. In 1715 he went to Venice to
study with Lotti and, between 1716 and 1719, he spent considerable time
in Vienna studying with Johann Joseph Fux. With his training completed,
he remained at the Dresden court for the rest of his life. In 1721 he
became vice-Kapellmeister there, but was passed over as Kapellmeister in
1731 when Hasse accepted the court's appointment. In 1735 he was named
Kirchen-compositeur to the court. Zelenka was particularly known during
his lifetime as a composer of sacred music, winning the admiration of
Bach and Telemann. His extensive output of such music included the
oratorios Il serpente di bronzo (1730), Gesa al Calvario (1735), and I
Penitenti al sepolchro del Redentore (1736), about 20 masses, 2
Magnificats, over 35 cantatas, and various motets, Psalms, antiphons,
hymns, and other pieces. For the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor
Karl VI as King of Bohemia, he composed the Melodrama de Sancto
Wenceslao ("Sub olea pacis et palma virtutis conspicua orbi Regia
Bohemiae Corona"), which was first performed in Frankfurt am Main on 12
November 1723. Almost all of the MSS of Zelenka's sacred music were lost
in 1945. Since several of his instrumental works were published in his
lifetime, copies have survived and today Zelenka is known as a
distinguished and refreshing composer of instrumental music. Among his
extant works for orchestra are 5 capriccios (1-4, 1717-18; 5, 1729), a
Simphonie a 8 Concertante (1723), a Concerto a 8 Concertante (1723), and
the Hipocondrie a 7 Concercante (1723). Also extant are 6 Trio or
Quadro Sonatas for 2 Oboes, Bassoon, and Basso Continuo (c.1720).
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