Stabat Mater (Pergolesi)

Stabat Mater (P.77)[1] is a musical setting of the Stabat Mater sequence, composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi in 1736.[2] Composed in the final weeks of Pergolesi's life,[3] it is scored for soprano and alto soloists, violin I and II, viola and basso continuo (cello and organ).

Background

Many pieces which were said to have been composed by Pergolesi have been misattributed; the Stabat Mater is definitely by Pergolesi, as a manuscript in his handwriting has been preserved.[4] The work was composed for a Neapolitan confraternity, the Confraternita dei Cavalieri di San Luigi di Palazzo,[5] which had also commissioned a Stabat Mater from Alessandro Scarlatti.[6] Pergolesi composed it during his final illness from tuberculosis in a Franciscan monastery in Pozzuoli, along with a Salve Regina setting,[2][3] and, as it is said, finished it right before he died.

Reception

The Stabat Mater is one of Pergolesi's most celebrated sacred works, achieving great popularity after the composer's death.[7][8] Jean-Jacques Rousseau showed appreciation for the work, praising the opening movement as "the most perfect and touching duet to come from the pen of any composer".[9] Many composers adapted the work, including Giovanni Paisiello, who extended the orchestral accompaniment,[10] and Joseph Eybler, who added a choir to replace some of the duets. Bach's Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden is a parody cantata based on Pergolesi's composition.

The work was not without its detractors. Padre Martini criticised its light, operatic style in 1774, and believed it was too similar to Pergolesi's comic opera La serva padrona to adequately deliver the pathos of the text.[11]

Structure

The work is divided into twelve movements, each named after the incipit of the text. Much of the music is based on Pergolesi's earlier setting of the Dies irae sequence.[4]

  1. "Stabat Mater Dolorosa", Grave, F minor, common time; duet
  2. "Cujus animam gementem", Andante amoroso, C minor, 3/8; soprano aria
  3. "O quam tristis et afflicta", Larghetto, G minor, common time; duet
  4. "Quae moerebat et dolebat", Allegro, E-flat major, 2/4; alto aria
  5. "Quis est homo", Largo, C minor, common time; duet
    "Pro peccatis suae gentis", Allegro, C minor, 6/8
  6. "Vidit suum dulcem natum", Tempo giusto, F minor, common time; soprano aria
  7. "Eja mater fons amoris", Andantino, C minor, 3/8; alto aria
  8. "Fac ut ardeat cor meum", Allegro, G minor, cut common time; duet
  9. "Sancta mater, istud agas", Tempo giusto, E-flat major, common time; duet
  10. "Fac ut portem Christi mortem", Largo, G minor, common time; alto aria
  11. "Inflammatus et accensus", Allegro ma non troppo, B-flat major, common time; duet
  12. "Quando corpus morietur", Largo assai, F minor, common time; duet
    "Amen..." Presto assai, F minor, cut common time

Selected Recordings

Release Year Soloists Conductor Orchestra Label Catalog Number
1990 Lucia Valentini-Terrani

Margaret Marshall

Claudio Abbado London Symphony Orchestra Deutsche Grammophon 415103
1993 June Anderson

Cecilia Bartoli

Charles Dutoit Montreal Sinfonietta Decca 436209
1994 Dorothea Röschmann

Catherine Robbin

Bernard Labadie Les Violons du Roy Sono Luminus 90196
1995 Arthur Stefanowics

Brigitte Fournier

Andrzej Mysinski Concerto Avenna Elysium 705
1995 Anna Gonda

Julia Faulkner

Michael Halász Camerata Budapest Naxos 8550766
1995 Martina Borst

Regina Klepper

Bamberg String Quartet Capriccio Records 10517
1998 Christa Ludwig

Evelyn Lear

Lorin Maazel Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Philips 462054
1999 Barbara Bonney

Andreas Scholl

Christophe Rousset Les Talens Lyriques Decca 466134
2000 Véronique Gens

Gérard Lesne

Gérard Lesne Seminario Musicale Virgin Classics 45291
2004 Pino De Vittorio

Patrizia Bovi

Olivier Schneebeli Le Poème Harmonique Alpha Productions 9
2006 Michael Chance

Jörg Waschinski

Helmut Müller-Brühl Cologne Chamber Orchestra Naxos 8557447
2006 Bettina Rubertone

Chiarastella Onorati

Flavio Emilio Scogna Benedetto Marcello Chamber Orchestra Tactus 711603
2006 Dorothea Röschmann

David Daniels

Fabio Biondi Europa Galante Emi Classics 63340
2008 Mikael Bellini

Susanne Rydén

Stockholm Baroque Orchestra Proprius-audiosource 2040
2009 Jochen Kowalski

Dennis Naseband

Hartmut Haenchen Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra Berlin Classics 115112
2009 Elisabeth Norberg-Schulz

Nathalie Stutzmann

Roy Goodman Hanover Band RCA 61215
2009 Lucia Valentini-Terrani

Katia Ricciarelli

Claudio Abbado Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra Euroarts 2072378
2009 Barbara Hendricks

Ulrika Tenstam

Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble Arte Verum 7
2009 Lawrence Zazzo

Angharad Gruffydd Jones

Timothy Brown Cambridge Ensemble Brilliant Classics 93952
2010 Anna Prohaska

Bernarda Fink

Bernhard Forck Academy for Ancient Music Berlin Harmonie Mundi 902072
2011 Anna Netrebko

Marianna Pizzolato

Antonio Pappano Santa Cecilia Academy Rome Orchestra Deutsche Grammophon 001544402
2012 Valer Sabadus

Terry Wey

Michael Hofstetter Neumeyer Consort Oehms 831
2013 Philippe Jaroussky

Julia Lezhneva

Diego Fasolis I Barocchisti Erato 19147
2014 Jonah Schenkel

Alex Potter

Alphons von Aarburg Barockorchester Capriccio Tudor Records 7166
2015 Evelyn Tubb

Terry Barber

Predrag Gosta New Trinity Baroque Edition Lilac 151108
2016 Sara Mingardo

Silvia Frigato

Federico Ferri Accademia degli Astrusi Concerto 2097
2017 Tim Mead

Lucy Crowe

David Bates La Nuova Musica Harmonia Mundi 907589
2019 Magali Léger

Paulin Bündgen

Jean-Marc Andrieu Les Passions Liga 327912
2020 Sandrine Piau

Christopher Lowrey

Christophe Rousset Les Talens Lyriques Alpha Productions 449

References

  1. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, 1710-1736 : a thematic catalogue of the Opera Omnia, with an appendix listing omitted compositions. Marvin E. Paymer (New York : Pendragon Press, 1977).
  2. Sadie, Julie Ann (1998). Companion to Baroque Music. p. 75.
  3. Randel, Don M. (1996). The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. p. 681.
  4. Andriessen, Louis; Schönberger, E. (2006). The Apollonian Clockwork: On Stravinsky. p. 66.
  5. Van Boer, Bertil H. (2012). Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period. p. 435.
  6. "Giovanni Battista Pergolesi". Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  7. Will, Richard (2004). "Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and the Politics of Feminine Virtue" (PDF). The Musical Quarterly. 87 (3): 570–614. doi:10.1093/musqtl/gdh021.
  8. Steinberg, Michael (2006). Choral Masterworks: A Listener's Guide. p. 115.
  9. Brook, Barry S. (1983). Pergolesi: research, publication and performance. The present state of studies on Pergolesi and his times. November 18–19, 1983, Jesi, Italy.
  10. "Giovanni Paisiello". Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  11. Heighes, Simon. "Giovanni Battista Pergolesi". BBC Music Magazine. Retrieved 15 March 2013.

Further reading

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