MISCELLANY

Most students of the Vivaldi catalogue or of Vivaldi's sacred vocal music will be aware of two arias with Latin texts (for use as single-movement motets) that are simple contrafacta, fashioned by an unknown hand, of operatic arias by him. One is Ad corda reclina (RV Anh. 59.15, formerly RV 648), a retexted version of the alto aria "Vedrai nel volto di quella infelice" (Arsilda, regina di Ponto, II.8); the other is Eja voces plausum date (RV Anh. 59.23, formerly RV 647), a parody of the bass aria "Benche nasconda la serpe in seno" from the Orlando furioso of 1727 (II.2). Synthetic motets of this kind, used in exactly the same paraliturgical way as purpose-written solo motets in three or more movements, but possessing the advantage (for certain local usages in churches or monasteries) of greater brevity, enjoyed wide currency in central Europe during the first half of the eighteenth century.