Carlo Grossi's Cantata Ebraica

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the long delay since my last post. As I mentioned before, I was traveling out of the country and I did not return until a couple of days ago. I had a great time traveling but now it is back to business.

Today's post will begin a series of posts about Hebrew art music from the late 17th century to the late 18th century and even to the very early 19th century. When most people hear that I specialize in Jewish Renaissance and Baroque music, they immediately and almost exclusively think of Rossi. However, there is quite a plethora of non-Rossi works out there that are not as well known.

Today we will be looking at a small and little known work from 1681 entitled Cantata ebraica in dialogo composed by Christian composer, Carlo Grossi. This work is an interesting in gem in many different ways. Firstly, the work is found in a larger publication by Grossi entitled Il divertimento de Grandi, which is primarily in Italian except for this cantata found towards the end which is clearly in Hebrew. Secondly, as far as cantatas and oratorios go, this is by far one of the shortest, clocking in somewhere between 5 and 6 minutes depending on the tempi taken by the ensemble.

What is more fascinating is the history and format of this composition. Grossi was commissioned by a Jewish fraternal organization called the Shomrim la-Boker (The Watchmen of the Dawn) to compose this piece in honor and celebration of the organizations founding which coincides with the Hoshana Rabba celebrations before Shemini Atzeret during the Sukkot festival. Grossi, being a Christian was most likely unfamiliar with Hebrew (even with the popularity of Christian Hebraists during this time period), and there is evidence that one or more of the members of the fraternity assisted Grossi with the Hebrew text(s). The format of the piece is even more interesting, being set for soloist, 4 part choir, and basso continuo. The cantata exists as a musical "conversation" between the soloist and choir which represents a dramatized conversation between a "passer-by" (the soloist) and the fraternity (the choir) on the eve of Hoshana Rabba during their (the fraternity's) all-night religious vigil.

Musically, the cantata is very simple yet involved. The solo material takes up most of virtuosic and ornamented activity while the choir repeats the same simple chorus but with different texts at each refrain. It could be said that Grossi was trying to emulate the cantorial style of singing in the solo sections as there are many melismatic passages and opportunities to add period-appropriate ornamentation.

Due to its association with the Hoshana Rabba holiday, this piece is often performed on Hoshana Rabba with the text of the piece being employed as an additional piyyut (liturgical poem) as part of the prayer services and celebration of the holiday.

Below is a Youtube video of the audio of the piece:

Fino alla prossima volta!