The work by Ferrandini heard this evening was long attributed to Handel—in
fact, it even bears a catalogue number in the new Barenreiter collected edition
of Handel's works! It is a lament from the Virgin Mary while witnessing the
crucifixion of her Son. The piece takes on styles appropriate to both the
theatre and to the church, no mean achievement in a time when the church was
"on the lookout" for secular tendencies. The recitatives are bold,
original and sometimes quite dissonant. The Virgin's utterances are heartfelt,
and therefore, quite dramatic. In one recitative, she remonstrates with the
angels, with God the Father and with the Holy Spirit for not coming to the aid
of her Son in His agony. While this sort of expression has its roots in the
psalms, it is remarkable to dramatize the Passion from the direct standpoint of
the Blessed Virgin—even the Stabat Mater sequence tells the story in the third
person. The arias are where we hear the contrpuntal style of the church. The
singer's part is almost instrumental, becoming more vocal only in one aria. The
last recitative (and the last number of the piece) ends abruptly—it depicts the
earthquake after Christ's death.
Ferrandini was born around 1710 in Venice, but went to Munich as a boy—he
seems to have landed a job as an oboist to Duke Ferdinand of Bavaria in 1722.
He enjoyed a very successful career composing operas—he was visited by the
Mozarts (Wolfgang and Leopold) in Padua in 1771. He was also the teacher of the
tenor, Anton Raaff, who would, in 1780, sing the first performance of Mozart's Idomeneo. David Schrader
Classical Music | Ensemble Music
Giovanni Battista Ferrandini
Il Pianto di Maria Play
Recorded on 06/06/2009, uploaded on 10/02/2010
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Il Pianto di Maria Giovanni Battista Ferrandini
The work by Ferrandini heard this evening was long attributed to Handel—in fact, it even bears a catalogue number in the new Barenreiter collected edition of Handel's works! It is a lament from the Virgin Mary while witnessing the crucifixion of her Son. The piece takes on styles appropriate to both the theatre and to the church, no mean achievement in a time when the church was "on the lookout" for secular tendencies. The recitatives are bold, original and sometimes quite dissonant. The Virgin's utterances are heartfelt, and therefore, quite dramatic. In one recitative, she remonstrates with the angels, with God the Father and with the Holy Spirit for not coming to the aid of her Son in His agony. While this sort of expression has its roots in the psalms, it is remarkable to dramatize the Passion from the direct standpoint of the Blessed Virgin—even the Stabat Mater sequence tells the story in the third person. The arias are where we hear the contrpuntal style of the church. The singer's part is almost instrumental, becoming more vocal only in one aria. The last recitative (and the last number of the piece) ends abruptly—it depicts the earthquake after Christ's death.
Ferrandini was born around 1710 in Venice, but went to Munich as a boy—he seems to have landed a job as an oboist to Duke Ferdinand of Bavaria in 1722. He enjoyed a very successful career composing operas—he was visited by the Mozarts (Wolfgang and Leopold) in Padua in 1771. He was also the teacher of the tenor, Anton Raaff, who would, in 1780, sing the first performance of Mozart's Idomeneo. David Schrader
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