Jakub Jan Ryba:
Missa Solemnis in C pro festo resurrectionis

Jakub Jan Ryba (October 26, 1765 – April 8, 1815) is a Renaissance figure whose legacy has been awaiting its rebirth for more than two centuries. Ryba's musical work is considered the pinnacle of so-called cantorial music in the Czech lands, but in many ways, it surpasses this genre in quality and stands apart from it significantly. After a stimulating period of studies in Prague, Ryba's life became involuntarily tied to the rural environment, where he settled permanently as a teacher and regenschori in Rožmitál.

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Missed Solemnis in C for the Feast of the Resurrection is listed among the solemn masses as the fourth, dated 1788. In this work, Ryba speaks to the listener through a musically mature compositional language of Viennese Classicism. Although the arias and duets are small forms of sacred music, they are among the most numerous in Ryba’s oeuvre, with over eighty surviving compositions. Melodically refined and sometimes virtuosic compositions for one or two voices were written by Ryba, much like the masses, throughout his life.

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Ryba even set the medieval text of the Marian antiphon Salve Regina to music multiple times. The composition chosen for this CD (N294) survives in individual parts for organ and four vocal voices. This Salve Regina is one of the most unusual works in Ryba's entire output, as he completely departed from his usual practice by omitting the orchestra and retaining only the organ (basso continuo) as the accompanying instrument. This decision opened up a generous space for the remarkable polyphony of the four voices, which he masterfully and abundantly employed in his most valuable works.