The name of the composer Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745) was nothing more than a footnote in a few scholarly dictionaries, before the great oboist Heinz Holliger discovered – and in 1972, along with Maurice Bourgue, recorded – all his sonatas in trios for two oboes and continuo. A great composer who had been swallowed up over the years was suddenly revealed. Following this discovery, many musicians and musicologists have been working steadily to excavate the music of an author who became the most important Czech composer of the baroque period.
As was often the case with composers of his time, Zelenka's catalogue runs to a considerable size, consisting mainly of religious music, with twenty-three Masses and three Requiems. Bach knew his peer and respected him, although their music is very different: one with its Lutheran origins and the other with a fervent Catholicism which brings the Czech's work a passionate charge and a more emotional expression than the austerity of the Leipzig master.
At the head of his Collegium Vocale 1704, Václav Luks is continuing his work around Zelenka, this time bringing us an imaginary mass based on various psalms composed around the year 1724. It is a showcase for works which are original both in terms of their expressive power (with bold chromatisms) and their varied instrumentation featuring trombones and a rich continuo. © François Hudry/Qobuz