Nisi Dominus (Vivaldi)

Nisi Dominus, RV 608, is a cantata by Antonio Vivaldi, a setting of the Vesper Psalm 127 (Vulgate 126).

Background
The cantata is unusual in that it sets a Vesper Psalm for a solo voice. The work was composed around 1717 when Vivaldi was still composing for the female students at the Venetian orphanage, the Ospedale della Pietà; this was most likely the site of the first performance, with a mezzo-soprano soloist (countertenor soloists are more common in modern recordings). Vivaldi set the same psalm for string orchestra and choir in his RV 803.

Nisi Dominus has been described by musicologists as a remarkable work in a number of ways. Harriet Smith wrote, "what's extraordinary is the composer's sheer imagination in terms of colour and mood". James Manheim writes, "It is the variety of instrumental accompaniments, as vivid as those of any Baroque opera, that brings the work to life." Bruce Lamott says:

"Vivaldi's integration of the text and characteristic musical devices is impressive. A concerto-like ritornello opens the work with industrious rhythms and precipitous leaps appropriate to 'Unless the Lord build the house'. The second and third movements contrast the hesitant futility of rising before dawn [words to live by, in my opinion] with the frenetic scales of 'Rise after you have rested'. 'The bread of sorrow' (doloris) is word-painted with a bass descending by half-steps, a typical figure for operatic laments. And 'Cum dederit' is a gently rocking siciliana, a common operatic conceit for sleep arias."

James Manheim summarizes by saying that this work "supports the conclusion that the relative obscurity of Vivaldi's vocal music is due more to historical accident than to any lack of quality."

Structure
All movements are scored for solo voice and string orchestra. The work has the following movements:

The work is unusual in that it splits the doxology into two separate movements, and even more striking is its treatment of the first of those, the Gloria Patri. Bruce Lamott says "In what Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot calls a coup de théâtre, Vivaldi saves the greatest surprises for the Gloria Patri." Normally, the entire doxology is a single movement, a cheerful celebratory movement serving as the climax of a piece. Instead, Vivaldi set the words of the ""Gloria Patri" to slow mournful music, using "the unusual colouring of a viola d'amore, an instrument on which the composer excelled." Michael Talbot writes that Vivaldi's musical setting of the "Gloria Patri" turns this part of the doxology into "a journey through a vale of tears: praise of the Trinity despite everything, rather than on account of everything."

With the second half of the doxology, "Sicut erat" (As it was in the beginning), Vivaldi creates a musical pun by reprising the music of the opening movement. This movement and the final "Amen" are more upbeat and celebratory, typical for concluding movements of such pieces.