Yale Schola Cantorum | Monteverdi: Vespers (1610)

Event time: 
Friday, April 15, 2016 - 3:30pm to 5:30pm
Location: 
St. Joseph Church See map
129 Edwards St.
New Haven, CT 06511
Open to: 
General Public
Event description: 

David Hill, conductor

NEW VENUE!  Free parking. Information about St. Joseph’s Church is here.

Preconcert talk at 6:30 PM: Style and Spirituality in Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610

Claudio Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers encompasses an astonishing breadth of expression: monumentality and intimacy, serenity and ecstasy, embodied sensuality and transcendent spirituality. The sheer beauty and power of this collection of psalms and motets are captivating in themselves, but how might we locate deeper spiritual meaning in this culturally remote music? In this lecture, ISM senior research fellow Michael Dodds offers an introduction to the work, exploring spiritual implications of Monteverdi’s musical responses to the verbal text.


Concert at 7:30 PM

Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, also known as the Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, constitutes one of the most remarkable collections of sacred music ever published. In it, Monteverdi showcased his mastery of the most advanced compositional techniques of his day, stating in his preface his hopes that the volume would be pleasing to God and the pope while silencing the mouths of the composer’s detractors. Though his fame today rests mainly on his operas and madrigals, we should be reminded that Monteverdi composed sacred music throughout his life, and the Vespers stands as his first major contribution to that genre.

Notes by Benjamin Thorburn


Vespro della Beata Vergine                                           Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)                                                                                                                                                  

I. Domine ad adiuvandum

II. Dixit Dominus

III. Nigra sum

IV. Laudate pueri

V. Pulchra es

VI. Laetatus sum

VII. Duo Seraphim

VIII. Nisi Dominus

IX. Audi coelom

X. Lauda Jerusalem

XI. Sonata à 8 sopra Sancta Maria ora pro nobis

XII. Ave maris stella

XIII. Magnificat