The upcoming three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Sarti (1729–1802) prompts an artistic and academic reappraisal of the legacy of this once powerful and successful but nowadays virtually neglected composer. Sarti’s four-movement Te Deum laudamus—a choral-orchestral reworking of his earlier Te Deum for double choir and two organs, written in 1781 in Milan—was created during his sojourn in southeastern Europe in the retinue of the Russian Prince Grigoriĭ Potemkin during the 1787–91 Russo-Turkish War. Following Potemkin between his administrative headquarters and military camps, Sarti composed and directed performances of works celebrating victories of the Russian army under his patron’s leadership. Te Deum laudamus was first performed in October 1790 in Bendery (Bender, Moldova) in celebration of the victorious capture of the fortress of Kilii͡a. Previously preserved exclusively in difficult-to-access manuscripts, this splendid composition is at last available to scholars, performers, and audiences through this volume.
- ISBN: 9781987208467 (1987208463)