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Use: General
Required Resources: 2-part choir, organ or harpsichord
Optional Resources: Cello
Language: Latin
Exaudi Domine was originally written by Milanese composer Giovanni Paolo Cima, a contemporary of Monteverdi and Frescobaldi, for two tenors and continuo.
The editor of our score has lowered the key and realized the figured bass, making this suitable for any two-part choir.
It works quite well with women on Part I and men on Part II.
The work opens with gorgeously fluid choral lines on the text Exaudi Domine vocem meam ("Hear my voice, O Lord").
This texture continues through qua clamavit ad te adjutor meus esto.
An abrupt change happens at ne derelinquas me ("leave me not") where repeated detached notes emphasize this plea.
The phrase neque despicias me ("forsake me not") goes a step further, laced with a touch of bitterness.
The last section is repeated, producing an ABB form.
Perfectly usable with organ accompaniment (chiffy flute in the manuals, pungent string in the pedal), this is easily expanded to its original scoring with the addition of a cello on the bass line.
To that end, a cello part is included as the last page of the vocal score.
Your choir will love this accessible setting of Psalm 27:7a, 9b, not only for its beauty but also for its flashes of drama.
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