Yale Schola Cantorum | Zelenka: Missa Dei Patris | NYC

Masaaki Suzuki, conductor

with Juilliard415

The music of Baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679 – 1745) has attracted a small but dedicated base of fervent admirers. The Czech composer passed his career at the Dresden court of Augustus the Strong, where his primary responsibilities were to play double bass in the virtuosic court orchestra and to produce settings of the Catholic liturgy. Composed in the final years of Zelenka’s life, however, Missa Dei Patris was not intended for use in the court chapel but as a private testament to his personal faith. This extraordinary Mass explores the entire catalog of contemporary compositional styles while reflecting the composer’s intimate connection with each line of text.