Motet, In convertendo
Grand motet
Psalm 125
Soloists: Soprano, haute-contre, baritone
Chorus: Soprano, haute-contre, tenor, baritone, bass
Orchestra: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, strings, and continuo
Gravement, "In convertendo"
Gai, "Tunc repletum est"
Lent - très gai, "Magnificavit Dominus"
Lent, "Converte Domine"
Choeur gracieux, "Laudate nomen Dei"
Trio, "Qui seminant"
Choeur, "Euntes ibant et flebant"
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
Rameau wrote all five of his grand motets in the first part of his life, when he was employed principally as a church organist. The original version of the motet In convertendo, composed between 1713 and 1715, has been lost. What we have today is a much later revision, which the composer provided for a performance at the Concert Spirituel in Paris in 1751. It is a version, therefore, which was performed as a concert piece and which incorporates much of his later style.
By the time of this revised version, Rameau had become a major opera composer, and we can feel the influence of his operas from the opening measures of this motet, with its free arioso style and frequently changing meters. The scoring too is operatic, with more developed wind parts than we might expect in Rameau's earlier music. On the other hand, the brilliant fugal choruses are very much from the world of the church.
The text is from Psalm 125 (126 in the English bible), but Rameau has inserted a verse from Psalm 68 (69) in the fifth movement. The text is beautifully characterized in the music throughout the piece. Among the many fascinating details in this music, one might note the fast runs in the flutes and violins depicting the "running stream" in the baritone solo movement and the two motives expressing tears and joy in the closing fugal chorus, where they are eventually brought together and sung simultaneously.
Boston Baroque Performances
Motet, In convertendo
March 13, 1999
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Jayne West, soprano
Frank Kelley, tenor
Aaron Engebreth, baritone
Mark Andrew Cleveland, bass-baritone