Vivaldi's well-known Gloria in D (known as Vivaldi's Gloria, much as
the Ninth refers to a particular symphony by a particular composer --
neither Mahler nor Bruckner) has long ago become a choral classic.
Vivaldi-Sneerers, get used to it.  I've sung it a number of times,
beginning in high school.  It's not terrifically complicated, but the
part writing is occasionally a little awkward.

At any rate, for years scholars have wondered why Vivaldi, who worked
at a girls' orphanage, wrote for mixed voices -- sopranos, altos, tenors,
and basses.  All sorts of theories had been advanced, including that he
wrote these works for the local opera.

Apparently, some version of the score has come to light in which people
discovered that the Gloria is written in *two* sets of clefs.  The first
set gives us the familiar mixed-voices version and the second set gives,
without changing a note, a perfectly-realized version for treble voices,
one do-able by the girls.  Vivaldi's mastery is so great that he writes
*fugues* in this way.

Does anyone know whether the treble version has been recorded?

Steve Schwartz