Two settings of the Te Deum by Jan Dismas Zelenka have been survived: the Te Deum in D major ZWV 145 of ca. 1724 and the present Te Deum a due cori in D major ZWV 146, which was composed in 1731. Whereas the Te Deum ZWV 145 is scored for five voices [ soli e tutti] and an orchestra including two trumpets and timpani, the setting of the Te Deum a due cori, which includes five soloists and two four-part choirs, as well as four trumpets and timpani, and soloistic flauti traversi is magnificently realized in a more decisive manner. The large, solemn scoring suggests that the work was composed for a worship service on the occasion of the birth of the Electoral Princess MariaJosepha of Saxony.
