Dresden vespers : Vespers & litany for the feast of St Francis Xavier (2022)/ Heinichen, Johann David

The full title for this sequence of liturgical works is Vespers and Litany for the feast of St Francis Xavier. This is St Francis Xavier also known as Francisco de Gassu y. Javier, 1505-52, one of the founding members of the Jesuit Order. The current recording chooses from Heinichen's music of the 1720's to recreate the sequence of music required for this feast day: starting with a Dixit Dominus, it moved to a Confetibor and a Beatus viw; thence to Laudate pueri, Laudate Dominum and Iste confessor before a Magnificat, itself followed by the Marian antphon Alma Redemptoris Mater and, finally, Litanie de Sancto Xaverio. (...) Perhaps most toucing is Alma Redemptoris Mater, the gently pulsating strings like a heartbeat against which the solo an choral contributions. The final Litaniæ is an extended piece, just shy of a quarter of an hour. Cast in C minor, it has an almost Mozartian-lachrympose demeanour; the solo contributions are beauty itself, particularly some wonderful duet moments between tenor and bass.|