In Vivaldi’s astonishing work list there are numerous sacred choral pieces and around forty cantatas. Much of this music was written for the soloists and choir at the girls’ orphanage in Venice where he worked and taught.

The motets and psalm settings in this volume, despite being religious works intended for performance during Mass, are often strikingly operatic. Invicti bellate is a bravura setting and whilst In turbato mare irato demands a wide vocal range and the use of opera-derived melismas, all the works display Vivaldi’s vivid musical imagination and his dramatic word setting.