José Joaquim dos Santos (1747-1801)
In Parasceve – Responsories for Good Friday
Raquel Alão (soprano), Rita Filipe (contralto), Rodrigo Carreto (tenor), Hugo Oliveira (bass)
Officium Ensemble, Real Câmara/Enrico Onofri
rec. 2024, Igreja Do Menino Deus, Lisbon
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as download
Passacaille PAS1151 [57]
Every year, in Lent, the forty days leading up to Easter, the last stage of which is Holy Week. a number of discs with music for Passiontide is released and concerts with such repertoire are given around the globe. I dare to say that very few of these concerts will include music from the classical period. Why is that?
One reason is that in our time the classical period is dominated by three composers: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, who left little or nothing specifically intended for Passiontide. Two works by Haydn, his Stabat mater and the Sieben letzten Worte (in various versions), are the best-known, whereas Beethoven’s oratorio Christus am Ölberge is one of his least-known compositions. Mozart left no Passion music at all. The best-known work outside the oeuvres of those three is Boccherini’s Stabat mater. It seems likely that if the works of their lesser-known contemporaries were systematically investigated, more music for Lent and Holy Week would come to the surface, even though some of them did not occupy a position which included the duty to write Passion music.
It is no wonder that the responsories for Good Friday performed here are by a Portuguese composer. For a number of years now, the music written in Portugal during the 18th century has been the subject of research, leading to performances and recordings. One of the features of Portuguese music life of this period is the growing influence of the Italian style; composers from Italy, especially Naples, moved to Portugal, and Portuguese composers embraced the Italian style, sometimes by studying in Italy, then returning to take up a position as the director of a musical establishment.
You may never have heard of José Joaquim dos Santos. As far as I know, only one work by him is available on disc: a setting of the Stabat mater (Pan Classics, 2019). At the age of six, Dos Santos became a pupil at the Patriarchal Seminary in Lisbon, a music school linked to the Royal Chapel. In 1770 he was appointed Composer of the Patriarchal Seminary and in 1773 he became Master of the Royal Seminary. Dos Santos never visited Italy, but came in close contact with the Italian, and in particular the Neapolitan style, through colleagues, who had been in Italy (such as João de Sousa Carvalho) and Italian composers, who worked in Portugal, such as David Perez. Moreover, Italian music found wide dissemination through the circulation of manuscripts.
The repertoire for Passiontide is various, reflecting the different religious traditions across Europe. In Portugal, that is Catholic. Since ancient times the seven penitential psalms had been sung during Lent, but the commemoration of the Passion of Christ concentrated on Holy Week. In the Christian church before the Reformation, then in the Roman Catholic Church, at the heart of the Office for Holy Week are the Lamentations and the Responsories. The Lamentations of Jeremiah bemoan the destruction of Jerusalem and were used as metaphors for the passion and death of Christ. The Responsories deal more directly with this subject. Some refer to texts from those chapters in the Gospels which report about Jesus’ passion. The structure of the responsories is ABCB: first the two halves of the responsory are sung (AB), then the verse (C), which is followed by a repeat of the second half of the responsory (B).
Each of the three last days of Holy Week – together known as Triduum Sacrum – consists of three Nocturns, and each Nocturn comprises three psalms, embraced by antiphons, and three Lamentations, each followed by a Responsory. The present disc focuses on the three Nocturns on Good Friday. This means that we get here nine Responsories. The Responsories are on liturgical or free poetic texts, sometimes put into the mouth of Jesus, whereas the verses are set to texts from the Bible.
Many composers have set the Responsories. The best-known are from the Renaissance, in particular the settings by Carlo Gesualdo and Tomás Luis de Victoria. From them to the Responsories by Dos Santos, dating from around 1788, is a big step. They are scored for four voices – soli and tutti – and an ensemble of two violas, cello, bassoon and double bass. This combination of instruments results in a dark sound, which perfectly fits the content of the texts. Whereas the responsory (AB) is for four voices in stile pieno or stile concertato, meaning that soli and tutti alternate, the verses are for two or three solo voices. Homophony and polyphony alternate; there are chord blocks, and these are often used to dramatic effect, with the help of marked dynamic contrasts.
Some Responsories have a text that gives every reason to set them in a dramatic manner, such as Responsorium IV, where Jesus says: “Daily I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me, and now, having scourged me, you lead me to be crucified”. The words “scourged” and “crucified” are graphically illustrated. The next Responsory is very different, as the text requires: “Darkness came over the land when the Jews crucified Jesus, and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice: My God, why have you forsaken me? And, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit”. The verse then is a setting of the last word from the Cross. The last Responsory is comparable with this one: “My eyes have grown dark from my weeping”. The B section is harmonically the most disturbing of the entire set, with strong dissonances: “Behold, all you people, if there is any sorrow like my sorrow”. This is repeated after the verse, and closes this cycle of Responsories.
One may not be used to hear Passion music in this style, but with very different means Dos Santos has created a highly expressive account of these old texts, narrating in such an intense way the events of Good Friday. In this performance, his settings have been perfectly realised by the four singers and the vocal ensemble, who approach these texts with great concentration; dynamic contrasts are exactly right. The two most expressive Responsories cannot fail to make a lasting impression. The low instruments are a perfect match to the voices.
If you would like to hear something unusual during Passiontide, different from what is mostly performed, this disc will expand your horizon. There are various musical paths to Easter; this is one of them.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
Contents
Responsorium I: Omnes amici mei
Responsorium II: Velum templi scissum est
Responsorium III: Vinea mea alecta
Responsorium IV: Tamquam ad latronem existis
Responsorium V: Tenebrae factae sunt
Responsorium VI: Animam meam dilectam tradidi
Responsorium VII: Tradiderunt me
Responsorium VIII: Jesum tradidit impius
Responsorium IX: Caligaverunt oculi mei
Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free
