Invicti Bellate - Mottetto RV628 - for Contralto, Strings, and Basso Continuo

Among the works by Vivaldi preserved in a state unsatisfactory for performance there is a curious case. It is this motet written for"Alto Solo", Invicti bellate, RV 628, which is already known to the public through editions, performances and recordings united by acommon shortcoming: a failure to realize that four entire pages of manuscript, amounting to something like 110-120 bars of music, are missing. This situation demands a definitive clarification: the motet is not performable in the state in which it has come down to us. Standing apart from a recent, over-indulgent fashion tending towards the reconstruction of damaged works at all costs, this edition deliberately presents the text in its imperfect state, with the provision, however, of a substantial historical introductionaimed particularly at establishing the motet's date and its position within the ample repertory of Vivaldi's sacred music.