For starters, I'd like to showcase Vivaldi's Credos and Bach's Passions:
01. Credo in unum Deum
Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem,
factorem caeli et terrae,
visibilium omnium, et invisibilium.
Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum,
Filium Dei unigenitum,
et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula,
Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine,
Deum verum de Deo vero,
genitum, non factum, consubstantialem Patri,
per quem omnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram
salutem descendit de coelis.
02. Et incarnatus est
Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto
ex Maria virgine, et homo factus est.
03. Crucifixus
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis:
sub Pontio Pilato passus, et sepultus est.
04. Et resurrexit
Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum
scripturas. Et ascendit in caelum:
sedet ad dexteram Patris.
Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, iudicare vivos
et mortuos: cuius regni non erit finis.
Et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum,
et vivificantem: qui ex Patre Filioque procedit,
qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur
et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per prophetas.
Et unam sanctam catholicam
et apostolicam ecclesiam. Confiteor unum
baptisma in remissionem peccatorum.
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum,
et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.
The work has some of the bombast and cadences between the choir and instruments that you might expect from a Mass, but the ensemble is more sparse. Because of the size of ensemble, the woodwinds and viols sound more personal and interact in lovely harmony, while the foundation is playing short scale turns and making repetitive leaps in perfect intervals as is the norm for Vivaldi. The organ makes an exciting entrance in the fourth creed, and the register it plays in, blending harmonically with the choir, is a welcome sound amidst the excitement of that movement.
Another thing that gets me, is how suitable the music is for creeds. A creed is not so much a narrative, as it is a primary revelation with relative traditions dispersed with it (like the Apostle's Creed which isn't exactly a narrative). As such, it would not seem fitting for the choir to fawn at every phrase and endeavor to express each line as an individual line (much like is done with oratorios, magnificats, dixit dominus' and masses). The orchestra follows suit and sets a pretty concrete mood for each creed as well.
And a Latin lexicon for those interested in the Creeds, before I get into Bach's Passions: http://latinlexicon.org/search_latin.php
01. Credo in unum Deum
Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem,
factorem caeli et terrae,
visibilium omnium, et invisibilium.
Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum,
Filium Dei unigenitum,
et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula,
Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine,
Deum verum de Deo vero,
genitum, non factum, consubstantialem Patri,
per quem omnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram
salutem descendit de coelis.
02. Et incarnatus est
Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto
ex Maria virgine, et homo factus est.
03. Crucifixus
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis:
sub Pontio Pilato passus, et sepultus est.
04. Et resurrexit
Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum
scripturas. Et ascendit in caelum:
sedet ad dexteram Patris.
Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, iudicare vivos
et mortuos: cuius regni non erit finis.
Et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum,
et vivificantem: qui ex Patre Filioque procedit,
qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur
et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per prophetas.
Et unam sanctam catholicam
et apostolicam ecclesiam. Confiteor unum
baptisma in remissionem peccatorum.
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum,
et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.
The work has some of the bombast and cadences between the choir and instruments that you might expect from a Mass, but the ensemble is more sparse. Because of the size of ensemble, the woodwinds and viols sound more personal and interact in lovely harmony, while the foundation is playing short scale turns and making repetitive leaps in perfect intervals as is the norm for Vivaldi. The organ makes an exciting entrance in the fourth creed, and the register it plays in, blending harmonically with the choir, is a welcome sound amidst the excitement of that movement.
Another thing that gets me, is how suitable the music is for creeds. A creed is not so much a narrative, as it is a primary revelation with relative traditions dispersed with it (like the Apostle's Creed which isn't exactly a narrative). As such, it would not seem fitting for the choir to fawn at every phrase and endeavor to express each line as an individual line (much like is done with oratorios, magnificats, dixit dominus' and masses). The orchestra follows suit and sets a pretty concrete mood for each creed as well.
And a Latin lexicon for those interested in the Creeds, before I get into Bach's Passions: http://latinlexicon.org/search_latin.php