Composer: František Ignác Antonín Tùma
Performer: Czech Ensemble Baroque
Conductor: Roman Valek
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Supraphon
Catalogue: SU43522
Release: 2024
Size: 1.1 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Ouverture in C Major
01. I. Ouverture – Fuga – Adagio – Fuga da capo
02. II. Menuet – Trio (Polonese) – Menuet da capo
Vesperae de confessore
03. Dixit Dominus
04. Confitebor tibi Domine
05. Beatus vir
06. Laudate pueri
07. Laudate Dominum
08. Magnificat
Sinfonia in D Minor
09. I. Largo
10. II. Allegretto
11. III. Andante
12. IV. Moderato
Stabat Mater
13. Stabat Mater
14. O quam tristis
15. Quis est homo
16. Sancta Mater
17. Fac me tecum
18. Fac me plagis
Partita in G Minor
19. I. Grave – Allegro – Grave
20. II. Allegro
21. III. Menuet
22. IV. Allegro
Litaniae Reginae Martyrum
23. Kyrie eleison
24. Sancta Maria
25. Speculum iustitiae
26. Salus infirmorum
27. Agnus Dei
Tuma was a renowned mid-18th-century Vienna musical figure. He was primarily lauded for his sacred works, written either in the strict polyphonic stile antico or in the more modern figural style.
The current album, a new instalment in Czech Ensemble Baroque’s series of Tuma recordings, focuses on specific types of liturgical pieces from the composer’s later creative period. The lustre of the vespers and litanies (Vesperae de confessore, Litaniae Reginae martyrum), designated for performance on major feast days, is enhanced by natural trumpets and timpani. The album includes one of Tuma’s eight surviving settings of the famous medieval sequence Stabat Mater. Furthermore, the composer wrote a great many instrumental pieces in which he applied elements of the modern galant style, while also embracing techniques characteristic of Italian and French music.
The grandiose and lavishly instrumented Ouverture in C contrasts starkly with the more modest Sinfonia in D, based on the Neapolitan opera sinfonia, and the Partita in g, which, just like Stabat Mater, have survived within a music collection in Vienna. The pieces Tuma wrote during his late creative phase provide ample proof of his compositional mastery and ability to blend the old and new stylistic trends, with the result being remarkable sacred and instrumental music. With the exception of Stabat Mater, Czech Ensemble Baroque present all the works featured on this album in modern-day premiere.
“Listeners can let themselves be borne on the waves of Tůma’s diverse and, actually, entertaining style. His music does not feature tiringly long polyphony but elegantly mixes all the compositional elements of the time. What is more, owing in part to the top-notch musicians Tůma had available at the court of Empress Christine in Vienna, his accompanying lines and basso continuo are really luscious, creative and immensely impressive,” says Roman Válek.