Laudamus Te: Vivaldi

• Duet for 2 sopranos
• Follows 2 solo movements - arias.
• 3rd movement of Vivaldi's Gloria

• Major Key
• Allegro
• Off beat rhythms accompanying the voice
• Angular tune - quite bouncy/buoyant in the orchestral part.
• Lively semiquaver and quaver rhythms.
• First tune is declamatory.
• Starts with a three note ascending figure - crotchets.
• Rhythmic vitality: quaver followed by a semi quaver.
• Time signature
• Melisma on "Glorifacamus".  - sense of exhaltation.

• Opening Ritornello: Motific material that follows uses some sequential modulations and some angular melodic shapes. The sequences a t the end of this idea are shorter and closer together creating excitement and anticipation. There are more chromatic shapes.
• Episode 1: the voices start with a 3 note figure introduced by the orchestra, increasingly short rhythms. Scalic writing, diatonic vocal lines, rising pairs of slurred quavers.
• Episode 2: diatonic, uses some hard to articulate dotted crotchet and semi quaver rhythms. Interlocking rhythms between the 2 sopranos makes the music exciting.
• Episode 3: uses some triplets which sound broader. the final setting of 'Adoramus te' writing and dotted rhythms creating a feeling of jubilance and some angular melodic shapes.
• Episode 4: repeated material.

• The first ritornello is in G major, the tonic.  Abbreviated versions of the ritornello are found in between the vocal entries, in the dominant key of D major, E minor and C major. A complete ritornello in G major concludes the whole movement.    
• The first few bars of the ritornello melody use the primary chords I, IV and V.   
• There is some chromaticism in the opening ritornello, although this is because it is modulatory and sequential. 
• Vivaldi uses secondary sevenths to modulate swiftly and sequentially (G7-C, A7-D).  The rate of harmonic change increases towards the end of the ritornello (two chords per bar), which adds to the excitement.                                                                                                                                  
• At the first vocal entry, Vivaldi alternates between chords I and IV for some time before using another secondary 7^th (this time in 3^rd inversion) to move to the dominant.                                                                                                                                     
• As the music moves towards E minor, Vivaldi uses some chains of suspensions between the two voices which create dissonance and resolve in turn.  These are given greater stability by the repeating As in the bass.                                                    
• There are a lot of harmonic sequences, for example after the brief E minor ritornello, there is a half circle of fifths moving from A7 – D – G7 – C.  Vivaldi moves chromatically to effect the modulations which define his structure – immediately after this sequence, he moves from an F chord to a D7 chord in order to move through the dominant of the dominant of C major – the key of his next episode.                                                                                                                        

• Strings and continuo.
  • The orchestral accompaniment, particularly as the violins and violas are in unison, is wonderfully clear.
  •  When the orchestra is accompanying the voices, they play interlocking quaver rhythms with lots of buoyant octave leaps.

• Governed by the ritornello principle.
• This movement contrasts with Bach’s use of ritornello material, as the vocal entries are alternated with the instrumental ritornelli. 
• The structure is very clearly defined by the tonality.

• Suspensions
• Imitation
• Pedal Notes

• Ritornello structure very typical

Texture

• The 1^st and 2^nd violins are in unison (comparison with Wachet Auf Movement IV).  
• The opening ritornello uses some two-part writing between the violins and the continuo, with contrary rhythms.                          
• There is imitative vocal writing between the two sopranos.  The initial treatment of “Laudamus te” is canonic.                                           
•  The first setting of “Glorificamus te” uses homophonic paired writing in parallel 3rds. 
• The most lively vocal texture occurs at the chains of suspensions, when the two voices are again imitative and interlocking.         
• After the E minor ritornello, the two singers have a phrase each with contrasting material.