177—“The Catholic Bach”: Jan Dismas Zelenka

By Thomas V. Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Apr 30, 2024 | In The Catholic Culture Podcast

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Jan Dismas Zelenka was a Bohemian Catholic baroque composer who has at times been called “The Catholic Bach” because his best compositions are on par with those of J.S. Bach, who indeed knew and esteemed Zelenka. This episode covers Zelenka’s career at the Catholic court chapel in Dresden with its grand liturgies inspired by Habsburg piety and Jesuit aspirations to evangelize the Protestants of Saxony.

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Links

Janice Stockigt, Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745): A Bohemian Musician at the Court of Dresden https://archive.org/details/jandismaszelenka00stoc/

Music heard in this episode:

The first movements of the trio sonatas in F major and C minor, ZWV 181/5 and 181/6, found on the album Zelenka: Trio Sonatas Nos. 1-6, performed by Ensemble Zefiro https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8121143—zelenka-trio-sonatas-nos-1-6

Nisi Dominus, ZWV 92, performed by Ensemble Inegal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-3cOwmrorI

Miserere in C minor, ZWV 57, performed by Il Fondamento/Paul Dombrecht https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAi_2B3QvAA

Missa votiva, ZWV 18, performed by Collegium 1704/Václav Luks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCL2CWQaH4A

Litaniae Lauretanae “salus infirmorum”, ZWV 152, performed by Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Neue Hofkapelle München/Peter Dijkstra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPRhMBJm6xs

Theme music: “Franciscan Eyes”, written and performed by Thomas Mirus. Download the Catholic Culture Podcast soundtrack.