MIssa votiva ZWV 18 - Free edition under progress

Congratulations on your work so far! The world needs a free edition of this magnificent mass! Fingers crossed that you will manage to complete the other movements Looking forward to reading through them!

Fantastic. Thank you for sharing. That looks like a very thorough and neat edition you are making. Looks really good.

Stunning! Thank you so much! These are some high violins on p. 6, I didn't realize they were that high

I loved the font style you use! Thanks for sharing and making this possible

That was fast. Ive just noticed one tiny mistake in the Gloria (by chance I might add only because it looked odd). Bar 45, second violin beat 3 - the 'a' semiquaver should be an 'e'. Actually that section is a funny bit of orchestration from Zelenka. The orchestra is basically unison but with each violin part alternating on semiquavers. I've not seen that in Zelenka before.

In bar 193, the violins are in unison with the bass but obviously the bass goes too low in the first beat of the bar. I see you've chosen to put a 'g; in the violins but I'd probably just repeat the 'e' in the violins to keep the unison. Obviously that's just a choice you have to make, there's no right or wrong so up to you.

Quote from Rik1

That was fast. Ive just noticed one tiny mistake in the Gloria (by chance I might add only because it looked odd). Bar 45, second violin beat 3 - the 'a' semiquaver should be an 'e'. Actually that section is a funny bit of orchestration from Zelenka. The orchestra is basically unison but with each violin part alternating on semiquavers. I've not seen that in Zelenka before.

I think you meant bar 139, not 45. It is indeed great orchestration from Zelenka and a good example of how he injects further energy into already frantic music by shuttling figures between the violins. I believe there are nice examples of this type of orchestration in ZWV 14 (Josephi) which I personally feel was all a big experiment with "interesting" orchestration on the part of Zelenka. A good example is in the Osanna after the Benedictus. It is a fughetta, really quite a simple one by Zelenka's standards. But what it lacks in complexity Zelenka makes up for in terms of orchestration. Clearly he wants a massive crescendo through this short piece (it's only ~45 seconds long!) and so he gradually adds his instruments, the strings with the voices, then the wind, brass and drums. Just when you think he cannot crank up the energy any more he unleashes the 1st and 2nd violins to alternately double the pedal note of the basses, not on (boring) long notes but on semiquavers with the first semiquaver in each figure an octave higher. Just like in the part of Missa Votiva referred to by Rik1, the 1st and 2nd violins alternate this figuration, almost like they are battling it out to emphasis the pedal note the best. It is a remarkable moment which is from a tonal sense totally unnecessary (surely the basses can deal with the pedal note!) but leads to a shimmering texture which brings this short fughetta to a stunning climax. If you did not notice it before (it supports the overall texture so well the specific figure can be missed!) I strongly recommend a closer listen. The other case of alternating semiquaver unison figurations in ZWV 14 is in the totally batty Laudamus Te. That time it is octave semiquavers alternating between the violins and the violas.

Quote from rnkt

I think you meant bar 139, not 45. It is indeed great orchestration from Zelenka and a good example of how he injects further energy into already frantic music by shuttling figures between the violins. I believe there are nice examples of this type of orchestration in ZWV 14 (Josephi) which I personally feel was all a big experiment with "interesting" orchestration on the part of Zelenka. A good example is in the Osanna after the Benedictus. It is a fughetta, really quite a simple one by Zelenka's standards. But what it lacks in complexity Zelenka makes up for in terms of orchestration. Clearly he wants a massive crescendo through this short piece (it's only ~45 seconds long!) and so he gradually adds his instruments, the strings with the voices, then the wind, brass and drums. Just when you think he cannot crank up the energy any more he unleashes the 1st and 2nd violins to alternately double the pedal note of the basses, not on (boring) long notes but on semiquavers with the first semiquaver in each figure an octave higher. Just like in the part of Missa Votiva referred to by Rik1, the 1st and 2nd violins alternate this figuration, almost like they are battling it out to emphasis the pedal note the best. It is a remarkable moment which is from a tonal sense totally unnecessary (surely the basses can deal with the pedal note!) but leads to a shimmering texture which brings this short fughetta to a stunning climax. If you did not notice it before (it supports the overall texture so well the specific figure can be missed!) I strongly recommend a closer listen. The other case of alternating semiquaver unison figurations in ZWV 14 is in the totally batty Laudamus Te. That time it is octave semiquavers alternating between the violins and the violas.

Thanks for that. I dont know that mass particularly well so I will go and have a good listen.

And you're right I had confused the page number with the bar number. It's definitely bar 139.

What kind of editor do you use? I've been using Lilypond for years and last year I switched from Emacs to Frescobaldi, but I'm wondering if there's something better out there. (I used Frescobaldi for ZWV 6.)

Your layout is really top-notch and I feel jealous Would you be willing to share source files?

Congratulations! This is a truly majestic achievement!

Also, additional thanks for making your code available. I will study your Scheme in detail