Rodríguez de Hita: Mass “O gloriosa Virginum”

La Grande Chapelle, Recasens, Albert, Schola Antiqua

LAU 009

Of the fifteen masses that have come down to us, Albert Recasens has selected O gloriosa Virginum, written for eight voices and orchestra and composed in 1771 for the celebration of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th). Rodríguez de Hita based the work on the Spanish hymn O gloriosa Virginum. As with most of the religious repertoire of the 18th century in Spain it brings together elements of the polychoral tradition and typical pre-classical flourishes. The mass is a noteworthy example of the musical eclecticism that dominated Spanish church music at that time. The present recording takes the form of a liturgical reconstruction, with the characteristic alternation of plainsong, vocal-orchestral parts and some instrumental pieces taken from the extraordinary collection Escala diatónico-cromático-enarmónica (1751), which has already been tackled – albeit with a different musical selection – by La Grande Chapelle in LAU 005 (2006). Juan Carlos Asensio (Schola Antiqua) is responsible for the plainsong, although the objective here has not been to recreate the ancient ceremonies with exactitude but rather to give them a coherent didactic form. Some litanies from the Salve Regina complete the recording. This recording, the world’s first, is of enormous interest for musicologists as it is one of the few examples of the vocal music of Antonio Rodríguez de Hita, a key musician in the history of Spanish music in the 18th century.

CD

Lauda

21.08.2012

5412690051999