English translation and Latin lyrics of the 4th movement in Nisi Dominus, RV608, Vivaldi’s most extended and artistically ambitious Psalm setting for solo voice to have survived. It certainly dates from his ‘first’ period, but no one has yet established whether or not it was written for the Pietà. ‘Cum dederit’ conveys drowsiness by being set in a slow siciliana style and employing a distinctive motive with chromatically ascending lines.

Performed by Andreas Scholl

The Artwork: The Tondo Taddei, one of the two most famous round bas-reliefs with the Madonna and the child executed between 1503 and 1506 by Michelangelo. It presents the figures of the Child and of St. John in a dynamic action, in a scene of lively everyday life where the child flees in the arms of the mother to the gesture of St. John showing a goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis, symbolizing variously the soul, resurrection, sacrifice and death; and here as a symbol of the passion.

This video is a dedication to a fellow Vivaldi fan, and a dear friend, Carina.