Elisabetta Gesuato - Mendelssohn, Delibes, Fauré: Veni Domine (2021)

Latin-texted sacred music enters in dialogue with the texts of the Holy Scriptures, amplifying the ancestral solemnity of an ancient language, generating a universal heritage and culture. The evocative atmosphere that Latin music and texts can generate leads to a poetical aesthetics capable of immersing the listener into a climate of spirituality that brings him closer to and unites him with the divine creative source.
Music combined with ancient texts thus becomes also a universal patrimony of the spirit and of a humankind in quest of the foundations of life, the research of existence. The ancient Scriptures describe creation as generated by the Logos, by sound. St. John in the Gospel writes “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God”. The Word, the Logos leads to the sonorous nature and therefore to the vibratory act of creation. Every creature vibrates with its own frequency within an energy field that makes it an integral part of the universal vibration. Our senses encode these vibrational frequencies into physical, tactile, aural, visual and subtle perceptions of the living Spirit that is hidden in the universal creation. Music represents a valuable intermediary in this process of fulfillment.
In particular, sacred music aims to convey universal Love through the sound vibrations of the instruments and the voice, messenger of the divine Logos, so that the human soul can immerse itself in the creative and saving energy of divine love. St. John says (Jn 4,7-8) “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God: whoever loves is generated by God and knows God; whoever does not love has not known God, because God is love “.12-13 “…if we love one another, God remains in us and his love is perfect in us”. Love of creation and of its creator is expressed through beauty, joy, harmony and music is a medium, the bridge to an energy of good and love. This CD aims to convey this universal message through a repertoire of sacred music chosen among that written by composers of the second half of the nineteenth century. That century represents a point of synthesis between the rediscovery of the sacred tradition of the earlier centuries (all pieces have Latin lyrics) and at the same time aimed at a renewal of aesthetic canons. Romanticism is the rediscovery of the roots and traditions that turn a people into a cultural identity rather than into a political one. The strength of a people is also contained in its spiritual dimension and in its ability to create a strong community through shared values. Mendelssohn uses one of the oldest forms of vocal polyphony, the Motet, a musical genre which emerged in the thirteenth century and developed above all in the sixteenth century, to create this spiritual community and union through music. The composer combines the ancient musical form of the Motet with Bach’s contrapuntal tradition, whose rediscovery and renaissance after a period of oblivion he contributed to realize. The model of the past is however reworked by the composer in a personal way, through a romantic thematic sonority that adheres to the spirit of the Lat-in sacred texts.
His aesthetic conception aims to combine music with the contents and feelings ex-pressed by the text through the union of voices and the sound mixture of the accompanying instrumental parts, supporting and underlining the Latin lyrics. Composed in 1830, the Motets op. 39 for female choir with organ or piano accompaniment rep-resent the only work for this formation in addition to a mass for two female choirs. The Motets op. 39 are divided into three parts: I. Veni Domine – Chorus “Veni Domine! Veni! Veni Domine et noli tardare, plebi tuae relaxa facinora et revoca dispersos in terram tuam. Excita Domine potentiam tuam et veni ut salvos nos facias”. “Come O Lord! You come! Come Lord and do not delay, free your people from evil and bring the dispersed back to your land. Show your power o Lord and come to save us from evil”. II. Laudate pueri a) Choir “Laudate pueri Dominum, laudate nomen Domini, sit nomen domini benedictum ex hoc nunc et usque in saecula”. “Praise the Lord young people, praise the name of God, now and forever and ever. May God’s name be blessed now and forever and ever” b) trio “Beati omnes qui timent Dominum. Qui ambulant in viis eius”. “Blessed are all those who fear the Lord and walk his ways”. III. Dominica post Pascha (Sunday after Easter) a) Choir “Surrexit pastor bonus qui animam suam posuit pro ovibus suis. Et pro grege suo mori dignatus est. Alleluia, alleluia!”. “The good shepherd is risen who gave his life for his flock. And for his flock he died. Alleluia!” B) “Tulerunt Domunum meum et nescio ubi posuerunt. Si tu sustulisti eum, dicito mihi et ego tollam”. “They took my Lord away and I don’t know where they put him. If you know, tell me and I’ll reach him”. c) Choir “Surrexit Christus spes mea! Alleluia! Praecedet vos in Galilaeam”. “Christ, my hope, is risen. He precedes you to Galilee.” The Missa brevis for female choir by Delibes, a French composer of the second half of the nineteenth century, represents a continuation of the renewal carried out by Mendelssohn.
Sacred music blends with romantic aesthetics and frees itself from the constraint of being performed only within places of worship, opening itself up to concert halls, theaters, salons of an economically increasingly strong bourgeoisie, open to cultural and artistic patronage. The accompaniment of the singing can be performed not only by the organ which would limit the performance to places of worship, but also by the piano. The Missa Brevis follows the classic division into five parts connected to the sections of the mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, O Salutaris hostia, Agnus Dei. The piece “Ave Maris Stella” by Delibes, for two soprano voices, also in Latin, dedicated to Mary, reflects the new Romantic taste, open to freer and more expressive musical forms, such as the romance aimed at emphasizing the most intimate feelings of soul and heart.
The text, even in its solemnity, becomes an intimate prayer: “Ave maris Stella, Dei Mater alma atque semper virgo, felix coeli porta…” “Hail star of the sea, loving mother of God and ever Virgin, blessed gate of Heaven”. The pieces by Gabriel Faurè, a French composer contemporaneous with Delibes, lead the listener towards an ever greater emotional and lyrical tension, thanks to a skillful harmonization of the melodic line that creates an intimate, meditative atmosphere of inner recollection, able to envelop the listener in a delicate and sweet expressiveness. The Latin text becomes a poetic musical song based on the clarity of the vocal structure, underlined by the piano accompaniment. The Latin texts of the pieces are the prayers dedicated to the Virgin, “Ave Maria” proposed in two versions for solo soprano op.67 n.2 and for two sopranos op.93, “Salve Regina” op.67 for soloist and “Maria mater Gratiae “op. 47 for two sopranos. The solemnity of the ancient language be-comes an intimate invocation to Mary, to her love as a Mother, mirror of that univer-sal divine merciful love.