In convertendo Dominus (Rameau)

Composition#

is one of the four surviving church works of Rameau’s early career, dating to the period 1710-1714 when he was working in Dijon or Lyon; other similar works are known to be lost. The work was rewritten and updated in style for a performance at the in Paris in 1751. The manuscript of the 1751 version, now in the , was originally in the collection of Jacques Joseph Marie Decroix, the lawyer and friend of Rameau who built a large collection of his manuscripts after the composer’s death. The motet is scored for soloists, choir, strings and woodwind, and includes, after the fourth verse, a verse not in the original psalm, (Praise the name of God in song). The final verse is composed to include a fugue which, in the opinion of Reiner E. Moritz, “can stand direct comparison with … Rameau’s contemporary J. S. Bach”.

Text#

The Latin text is given below alongside the translation of the psalm in the King James Bible. The text in square brackets is not in the original psalm.

Recordings#

• William Christie (conductor), Les Arts Florissants chorus and orchestra. CD. Erato, 1995.
• William Christie (conductor), Les Arts Florissants chorus and orchestra. DVD. Opus Arte, 2006.
• Hervé Niquet (conductor), Le Concert Spirituel. CD. FNAC Music, 1983.
• Philippe Herreweghe (conductor), Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus and Ghent Collegium Vocale. CD. Harmonia Mundi, n.d.

Notes and references#

;Notes ;Sources * Bouissou, S. and Herlin, D. (2007). Jean-Philippe Rameau : Catalogue thématique des œuvres musicales (T. 1, Musique instrumentale. Musique vocale religieuse et profane). Paris: CNRS Édition et Éditions de la BnF, * Moritz, Reiner E. (2004). “True music is the language of the heart”. Accompanying booklet to DVD recording of In convertendo, Opus Arte OA 0956D, pp. 5 - 9 . * Rameau, Jean-Philippe, ed. Camille Saint-Saëns (1898). Oeuvres Complètes, Tome 4 . Paris:Durand. Accessed on IMSLP 1 January 2015. * Sadler, Graham (1978). “A Letter from Claude-François Rameau to J. J. M. Decroix”, Music & Letters, vol. 59, no. 2 (Apr. 1978), pp. 139-147. . * Sadler, Graham (1983). “Rameau: Les grands motets” (review), The Musical Times, vol. 124, no. 1687, Sep. 1983, p. 577. . * Sadler, Graham and Thomas Christensen (n.d.) “Rameau, Jean-Philippe”, in Oxford Music Online, accessed 1 January 2015.