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

• Richard Wagner's revue critique of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater: "Pergolesi's Stabat Mater". Pilgrimage to Beethoven and Other Essays. p. 102.
• An IMSLP-hosted scan of Pergolesi's manuscript, viewed here 15.6MB

External links

• Stabat Mater (Pergolesi): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores of Stabat Mater (Pergolesi) in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Pergolesi Stabat Mater Video of a historical performance of the Stabat Mater on original instruments by the ensemble Voices of Music using original baroque instruments.