Jan Dismas Zelenka - De Profundis in D minor - ZWV 50

Orchestra: Il Fondamento. Conductor: Paul Dombrecht
Soloists: Peter de Groot (A), Ian Honeyman (T), Peter Krooij (B), Dirk Snellings (B), Lieven Termont (B). Recorded: 1998

A wonderfully powerful piece of music by the Czech master, written in 1724 as a part of a memorial service to his father, who was an organist and schoolmaster in Zelenka's home village of Louňovice pod Blaníkem. Sadly, this is the only known surviving section of the tribute.

It centres on Psalm 130 and concludes with 'Requiem Æternam":

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine;
Domine, exaudi vocem meam. Fiant aures tuæ intendentes
in vocem deprecationis meæ.
Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine, Domine, quis sustinebit?
Quia apud te propitiatio est; et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.
Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus:
Speravit anima mea in Domino.
A custodia matutina usque ad noctem, speret Israël in Domino.
Quia apud Dominum misericordia, et copiosa apud eum redemptio.
Et ipse redimet Israël ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.

Requiem Æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetuae luceat eis.
---
From the depths, I have cried out to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplication.
If you, Lord, were to mark iniquities, who, O Lord, shall stand?
For with you is forgiveness; and because of your law, I stood by you, Lord.
My soul has stood by his word.
My soul has hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch, even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.
--
00:00 De profundis (3 Bass)
04:50 Si iniquitates (chant and chorus)
07:17 Sustinuit (Alto, Tenor and Oboe)
10:23 Et ipse redimet (chorus)
10:54 Requiem Æternam (chant and chorus)

Background painting: "The Death of Saint Benedict" 1718-1723 - Petr Brandl.