Jan Dismas Zelenka, the composer of Missa votiva, was a Bohemian musician who arrived at the Dresden court around 1710 as a violone player in the Hofkapelle of August II, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony.
Compositional Technique
Zelenka's Missa votiva combines vastly different musical styles, including concerto-style choral movements, movements composed in the stile antico, and arias reminiscent of the latest operatic style.
Historical Context
After the death of Dresden Kapellmeister Johann David Heinichen, Zelenka directed music in the royal chapel without appropriate title or remuneration.
Compositional Technique
The Missa votiva, a large-scale mass, features a mixture of grand choral movements, solo arias, brief dramatic episodes called 'Szenen', and choral fugues.
Composition History
After completing the Missa votiva, Zelenka began a cycle of six masses, the Missae ultimæ, at age sixty-one, but his ongoing ill health left the project unfinished.
Composition History
The title page of the Missa votiva score bears Zelenka's handwritten inscription: 'Vota mea Domino reddam. Psal: 115. Versu 5…' (I will pay my vows to the Lord, before all his people).
Composition History
Zelenka composed the Missa votiva as a vow after recovering from a severe illness in 1739.
