1. Stabat Mater Dolorosa 2. Cuius animam gementem 3. O quam tristi et afflicta 4. Quae moerebat et dolebat 5. Quis est homo 6. Vidit suum dulcem natum 7. Eja mater fons amoris 8. Fac ut ardeat cor meum 9. Sancta mater, istud agas 10. Fac ut portem Christi mortem 11. Inflammatus et accensus 12. Quando corpus mortietur
Pergolesi received some of his musical training from the Maestro di cappella
at Iesi, Francesco Santi, and also some instruction on the violin from one
Francisco Mondini, the public music master. A bit later, (sometime between 1720
and 1724) he was sent to the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesu Christo in
Naples, where he learned composition from Gaetano Greco, the maestro di
cappella of the conservatory. Pergolesi did not pay tuition or room and board
while at the conservatory because his work as a singer in the choir and as a
violinist constituted payment "in kind." At that time, Pergolesi's
improvisations on the violin were described as follows:
Chromatic passages rising and falling, new and graceful
gruppeti, appoggiaturas of a new kind with such melody that the very companions
who were studying the instrument together with him remained enchanted by them
and sometimes were constrained to suspend their study, surprised by the harmony
produced by their colleague.
Pergolesi's greatest claim to fame lies in his advocacy of comic opera—his
most famous work in this genre is "La Serva Padrona," which was first
performed in Naples in September of 1733. On tonight's program, we hear the
sinfonia (the Italian counterpart to the French overture) from "Lo frate
'nnamurato," his first "commedia musicale," which came to light
in September of 1732, just less than a year before "La Serva
Padrona." The multi-sectional opera sinfonia was, at the time, already
metamorphosizing into the multi-movement pieces that are known as symphonies.
The Stabat mater, which is heard tonight, is probably Pergolesi's
last composition. By 1735, the composer's health was deteriorating rapidly (it
is most likely that he was consumptive). In 1736, he moved into the Franciscan
monastery in Pozzuoli, where he died, shortly after composing the Stabat mater,
on the sixteenth of March.
The Stabat mater is a sequence text for the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, and narrates the feelings of the Virgin by the side of
the cross as her Son dies in agony. Various authors for the poem have been
suggested—the most likely is Jacopone da Todi (d. 1306). This sequence (a
succession of verses that fits into the text of the tract or alleluia) is one
of the five that continued to be used after the Council of Trent in the
sixteenth century. The others are: Dies irae (for the requiem mass), Victimae
Paschali (for Easter Day), Lauda Sion (for Corpus Christi) and Veni, Sancte
Spiritus (for Whitsunday).
Pergolesi was a composer who knew his counterpoint
very well but composed much in the popular "gallant style," which
advocated simple melodies and symmetrical phrasing. As one might expect for a
religious work, there is a fine balance between the gallant style and the more
contrapuntal style that was always a hallmark of good church music. We might
say that Pergolesi has made an expert fusion of old and new styles in the
Stabat mater. David Schrader
Classical Music | Ensemble Music
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Stabat Mater Play
Recorded on 01/08/2008, uploaded on 10/14/2010
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Stabat Mater Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
1. Stabat Mater Dolorosa2. Cuius animam gementem
3. O quam tristi et afflicta
4. Quae moerebat et dolebat
5. Quis est homo
6. Vidit suum dulcem natum
7. Eja mater fons amoris
8. Fac ut ardeat cor meum
9. Sancta mater, istud agas
10. Fac ut portem Christi mortem
11. Inflammatus et accensus
12. Quando corpus mortietur
Pergolesi received some of his musical training from the Maestro di cappella at Iesi, Francesco Santi, and also some instruction on the violin from one Francisco Mondini, the public music master. A bit later, (sometime between 1720 and 1724) he was sent to the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesu Christo in Naples, where he learned composition from Gaetano Greco, the maestro di cappella of the conservatory. Pergolesi did not pay tuition or room and board while at the conservatory because his work as a singer in the choir and as a violinist constituted payment "in kind." At that time, Pergolesi's improvisations on the violin were described as follows:
Chromatic passages rising and falling, new and graceful gruppeti, appoggiaturas of a new kind with such melody that the very companions who were studying the instrument together with him remained enchanted by them and sometimes were constrained to suspend their study, surprised by the harmony produced by their colleague.
Pergolesi's greatest claim to fame lies in his advocacy of comic opera—his most famous work in this genre is "La Serva Padrona," which was first performed in Naples in September of 1733. On tonight's program, we hear the sinfonia (the Italian counterpart to the French overture) from "Lo frate 'nnamurato," his first "commedia musicale," which came to light in September of 1732, just less than a year before "La Serva Padrona." The multi-sectional opera sinfonia was, at the time, already metamorphosizing into the multi-movement pieces that are known as symphonies.
The Stabat mater, which is heard tonight, is probably Pergolesi's last composition. By 1735, the composer's health was deteriorating rapidly (it is most likely that he was consumptive). In 1736, he moved into the Franciscan monastery in Pozzuoli, where he died, shortly after composing the Stabat mater, on the sixteenth of March.
The Stabat mater is a sequence text for the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and narrates the feelings of the Virgin by the side of the cross as her Son dies in agony. Various authors for the poem have been suggested—the most likely is Jacopone da Todi (d. 1306). This sequence (a succession of verses that fits into the text of the tract or alleluia) is one of the five that continued to be used after the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century. The others are: Dies irae (for the requiem mass), Victimae Paschali (for Easter Day), Lauda Sion (for Corpus Christi) and Veni, Sancte Spiritus (for Whitsunday).
Pergolesi was a composer who knew his counterpoint very well but composed much in the popular "gallant style," which advocated simple melodies and symmetrical phrasing. As one might expect for a religious work, there is a fine balance between the gallant style and the more contrapuntal style that was always a hallmark of good church music. We might say that Pergolesi has made an expert fusion of old and new styles in the Stabat mater. David SchraderMore music by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Sinfonia from Lo frate'nnamurato
Sonata for Violin in E Major
Performances by same musician(s)
Suite from Bourgeois gentillomme
Suite from Les Indes Galantes
Harpsichord Concerto in d minor
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in b minor
Trio Sonata in d minor "La follia" Op. 1 No. 12
Cello Sonata in B-flat Major
Aria Sopra "La Bergamesca"
Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major
Concerto a cinque, Op. 2 No. 4
Sinfonia Dall' oratorio Il Giosuè
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