Antienne mariale traditionnelle - Musique : Antonio LOTTI (1666-1740)
There are only four manuscripts left. One of them is listed in the library of the University of Wroclaw but is in fact kept in the university library of Warsaw. This edition is based on this manuscript. (The story of this handover is a long and fascinating one...). We have referred to this manuscript for this edition. The manuscript includes a strict reduction of the chorus for keyboard, which we have not reproduced.
Antonio LOTTI, a Venetian composer, provided both theatres and churches with an abundant output of operas, oratorios, secular cantatas and a large number of sacred works. Although his Masses and Crucifixus are better known today, short pieces such as this Regina caeli were highly prized at the time. Witness the many copies that spread throughout Europe.
Translation:
Rejoice, Queen of heaven, Alleluia,
because the one you deserve to bear (in your womb), alleluia,
has resurrected as he said he would, alleluia.
Pray God for us, alleluia.
Notes
Comments on the manuscript: the original key of this work is C Major. We propose a transposition to Bb to avoid the tenors' line being too 'tense'. We have therefore bracketed the low F of the basses (meas. 12), proposing a note in the higher octave (not notated in the manuscript) that is more "accessible" to most choirs. The manuscript also includes a faithful reduction of the choir (continuo, which we have not edited). The voices can therefore be doubled by a keyboard. A note about the performance: some choirs choose to repeat the first page (before the start of page 2 - resurrexit), then run through the whole work and finish by singing the last system on page 2 (the 3 alleluia).
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