Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina by Il. Padre G. B. Martini

One of my all time favorite pieces of music is Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina (translation: Lord, My God, Assist Me Now), by Il. Padre G. B. Martini, or Giovannia Battista Martini, who lived from 1706-1784 and was a mentor to Mozart.

Personally, I like it with string quartet, not piano and a bigger choir and the tenor line almost staccato not legato (the “smoother” versions are like saccharine – they make me hostile because they defeat the entire point).  I wish I could find a fantastic, flawless performance for you – especially one that was “pure baroque” with period instruments, no vibrato, etc. for comparison.  Anyway, there is just something incredibly pleasing about it to me.

But with the volume turned all the way up so that you can feel the bass vibrating your body, the final canon (which starts at 3 minutes and 20 seconds) is one of my favorite passages composed in the past 500 years.

To listen, click on the following link and the mp3 will automatically start playing.  Sorry for the “double start” in the beginning but I’m not going to edit the sound file to delete it.  (Too much other stuff to do) … It’s the best I could find on short notice that is part of the public domain and could be published (since I had to use a free audio converter online to get the format into mp3, it skips in places.) It’s from a performance Aaron and I were both in back when we were teenagers.

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