Nisi Dominus in G Minor

Crafted in nine movements, Vivaldi’s longest surviving psalm setting for solo voice is among the finest of all his sacred compositions. Nisi Dominus, possibly written around 1715, draws its diverse emotional flavours and musical variety from the text of Psalm 127: “Unless the Lord builds a house, in vain do those who labour build it”. This was one of five psalms prescribed for the church service of Vespers, celebrated around sunset. Vivaldi’s composition catches the reflective atmosphere of evening prayer while expressing thanks for the day just gone. Nisi Dominus opens with a spirited introduction for strings, the momentum of which spills into the alto soloist’s affirmation of God’s sovereign power. Vivaldi gives each movement its own character, emphasising the vanity of any deed done without trust in God and the matchless value of the divinity’s gift of children, “fructus ventris” (“the fruit of the womb”). He conjures the mood of sleep in “Cum Dederit” and carries it into the work’s unusually sombre “Gloria”, an exquisite dialogue for solo violin and voice.