Juditha triumphans

Juditha triumphans

More than any of his other works, Vivaldi's only surviving oratorio, Juditha triumphans, was single-mindedly focused on promoting the image of the Venetian Republic in a military alliance involving Austria and the Papacy. In synchrony with the launch of several new warships and a major battle for the defense of the Adriatic island of Corfù, Juditha triumphans rested entirely on an analogy. In it Juditha represents Venice, while her nemisis Holofernes represents the Turks (who at the time were menacing the boundaries of Austro-Hungary on land and the Venetian Republic at sea).

The specification of the work's genre as a "sacred military oratorio" was no mistake. Giacomo Cassetti's libretto reaffirmed its aim through its dedication to Johann Mattheus, count of Schulenburg. Schulenburg was the marshal of the forces made available by the coalition to defend Corfù, which one of the Republic's last remaining holdings of its diminishing maritime empire.

What exactly does a "sacred military oratorio" contain? In its overall structure the work is not noticeably different from other oratorios. It has two structural parts, the first of which is unusual in that that does not include a sinfonia. This seems to have been no accident: the creators were eager to get down to the business of flexing their military muscles. Each half of the oratorio begins and ends with a chorus. Trumpets and drums underscore the forthright intention of the protagonist.

One is aware from the first few notes that this is a staunchly militaristic work: the trumpets greet us almost brazenly, the chorus reminds us at intervals that this is a work with the purpose, and it all ends as militantly as it began. Yet Juditha triumphans is full of tender, affective writing. Abra is a fictional "nurse" who demurely follows the widowed Bethulian queen Juditha on her murderous mission.

Cassetti derived the tale from the Apocrypha. Many of these more tender moments, such as Judith's aria "Veni, veni, mi sequere fide," are highlighted by an instrumental obbligato. In the architecture of the whole instrumental color plays a significant role in delineating changes of mood and also in symbolizing diverse universal conceptions--the passage of time (theorboes), fidelity (the oboe), rusticity (the recorder), and so forth.

Historical Background

Despite the label "Most Serene Republic," Venice in the 1710s was not serene. A gradual decline in its maritime empire was reflected in a growing economic disadvantage. The Venetian concentrated all their naval defenses on the island of Corfù (which they had held since 1396) in 1715 and prepared for a rigorous defense. The Venetian Arsenal prepared several new galleys. Schulenburg recruited several tens of thousands of troops. The fleet sailed early in February 1716.

The defense of Corfù peaked between July 25 and August 20, 1716. Venice prevailed. The crews drifted back to the lagoon in November. Upon their arrival they were required to spend a month in quarantine, from which they emerged at staggered points throughout December. Schulenburg himself was freed on the third day of January 1717, a Sunday. This is a likely date for the performance of Juditha triumphans</8>. The Venetians probably anticipated an Advent performance when the libretto was published, but since the civic year was not advanced until March 1, our dating of January 3, 1717 fell within their year 1716.

The Oratorio of Vivaldi's Time

Juditha is the only oratorio by Vivaldi that survives, but written evidence documents a long history for the genre in Venice's four orphanage-conservatories (ospedali). Francesco Gasparini, Vivaldi's first superior there, was among the oratorio composers, as were Carlo Francesco Pollarolo at the Incurabili, and the slightly earlier figures Giovanni Legrenzi and Carlo Pallavicino, who served respectively at the Mendicanti and Ospedaletto.

Among oratorios survived only by anonymous texts, a shorter, simpler La Giuditta was given in 1713 at the no longer extant church of San Leonardo, Padua, in 1713 under the auspices of Laura d'Este, a member of the congregation of the Santissima Annonziata. This Giuditta, in the vernacular, had roles only for Judith, Ozias, Holofernes, and his unnamed captain. Holofernes dominanted the work, opening it with a vehement denunciation of Jews. Judith sang only twice. It was not, therefore, a work of the same ambitions as Vivaldi's, nor did it have any immediate pertinence to political affairs. Giacomo Cassetti, the librettist of the Vivaldi work, had at least two other oratorios to his credit. Both were given Padua (1702, 1708). They too were less ambitious works than this one.

The ospedali were most likely to present oratorios on the Sunday afternoons of Advent and Lent (the penitential seasons preceding Christmas and Easter).

The Text of Juditha triumphans

Giacomo Casetti's text can be read either as the script for a pep rally or as a symbolic re-enactment of Venetian triumph over Ottoman troops. Their leader Holofernes is an adversary Judith vanquishes by seduction. She first lures him to her tent, then withstands his advances long enough to ply him with drink (early in Part Two of the oratorio), and then beheads him (an event that was the subject of countless depictions in the arts of the time). Christianity prevails, fulfilling the main objective of the work, but sustains its militancy even in victory.

In such a simplistic account the characters of Judith and Holofernes are easily constrasted. The widow Judith is intent on defending the Faith (i.e., Venice). Judith’s arias define her as forthright and determined. Music of sympathy and quiet persuasion falls to Abra. We witness Holofernes, the Ottoman aggressor, as angry, seductive, drunk, and betrayed by turns. The head priest Ozias and the head eunuch Vagaus serve their masters in conventional but musically persuasive ways.

Few works by Vivaldi exhibit such a close coupling of political motive, text, and music. His imitations of Janissary bands permeate the surface, but at a deeper level most of the woodwinds serve to underscore a fleeting sentiment or turn of events.

Listener's Guide to Juditha triumphans

All of the unusual instruments play a symbolic role in the soundscape of the overall narrative. Vivaldi cycles through them as the story unfolds.

Performer's Guide to Juditha triumphans

Contrary to popular belief, the Pietà's figlie di coro who performed in this and other works by Vivaldi were not nubile. They ranged in age from their mid-teens to their 60s or 70s. Many had pupils who were girls ranging in age from 8 or 10 to their teends. One copy of the libretto for Juditha identifies the soloists as Caterina, Silvia (b. 1650), Polonia (b. 1692), Barbara, and Giulia. All five were born in the seventeenth century, the eldest (Silvia) around 1650, the youngest (Polonia) in 1692. The chorus was one of Virgins with respect both to the Pietà’s situation and in the context of the subject, for Bethulia, the name of the city Judith defended, meant “virgin.”

While in its reliance on core strings (violins, violas, cellos) Juditha triumphans is straightfoward in its instrumental requirements, the obbligati extend to unusual bowed strings (viola d'amore), plucked strings (mandolin, four theorboes), and woodwinds. A consort of five viols (2 treble viols, 2 violas da gamba, and a violone) are called for one in recitativo accompagnato. The woodwinds include paired baroque oboes, recorders, chalumeaux (single-reed instruments that were forerunners of the clarinet). Natural trumpets and timpani lead the triumphal openings and closing numbers.

The Pietà had one chorus, but it could obviously be divided into multiple groups. In Juditha it simply took on a series of colorations--as a chorus of Assyrian soldiers (1.1), servants (1.21A), Bethulians (1.27), drunken (Ottoman) soldiers (2.10), and Judeans (2.28).

The CCARH Edition of Judith triumphans

The CCARH edition of Juditha triumphans, edited by Frances Bennion, Edmund Correia, Jr., and Eleanor Selfrdige-Field, was drafted in 2008 for use by Venice Baroque, one of whose performances may be available here. The edition has subsequently been revised and corrected for use by Philharmonia Baroque (2014).

The libretto (in Latin) precedes the music in the PDF for Part One.