Haendel, Dixit Dominus

In this major program of sacred music, Leonardo García Alarcón combines Handel’s Dixit Dominus with a lesser-known but equally grandiose discovery: Giovanni Paolo Colonna’s Mass in E minor.

Handel composed only occasionally for the church: the Dixit Dominus is a psalm written during his stay in Rome, based on Venetian models with borrowings from Gregorian chant. What’s striking is the richness of the soundtrack to the lyrics: emotion pierces the spirit. The tiny human being in the face of immensity…

A major composer in late 17^th century Italy, Giovanni Paolo Colonna was appreciated and sought after by the greatest, even turning down an offer from Pope Innocent XII to become Kapellmeister of St. Peter’s Basilica at the end of his life.

Composing most of his works for the church, Colonna’s style is majestic, with changes in style and taste characteristic of an era when sacred music oscillated between the gravity of the old style and the brilliance of the new.