Apr 30, 2024
Jan Dismas Zelenka was a Bohemian Catholic baroque composer who
has at times been called “The Catholic Bach” because his best
compositions are on par with those of J.S. Bach, who indeed knew
and esteemed Zelenka. This episode covers Zelenka’s career at the
Catholic court chapel in Dresden with its grand liturgies inspired
by Habsburg piety and Jesuit aspirations to evangelize the
Protestants of Saxony.
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Links
Janice Stockigt, Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745): A Bohemian
Musician at the Court of Dresden
Music heard in this episode:
The first movements of the trio sonatas in F major and C minor,
ZWV 181/5 and 181/6, found on the album Zelenka: Trio Sonatas Nos.
1-6, performed by Ensemble Zefiro
Nisi Dominus, ZWV 92, performed by Ensemble Inegal
Miserere in C minor, ZWV 57, performed by Il Fondamento/Paul
Dombrecht
Missa votiva, ZWV 18, performed by Collegium 1704/Václav Luks
Litaniae Lauretanae “salus infirmorum”, ZWV 152, performed by
Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Neue Hofkapelle München/Peter
Dijkstra
