This week's Stabat Mater comes from a relatively unknown, but hauntingly beautiful rendition by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736). Unlike the other two, this is of a more Italian-Baroque style, written in the year of the composer's death, 1736 (at the tender age of 26). I had not known that this particular music was originally Pergolosi's, until searching it out for this week's post, but it is quite delightful--indeed, it is recognized as his masterwork. None other than the greatest master of the age, J.S. Bach, would do some 'holy borrowing' to incorporate it into his cantata on Psalm 51 written for the German language (and thus, another audience), which is where I am familiar with the piece. As Pergolesi's masterpiece, one must beg the question of what he might have been able to accomplish if he lived as long as J.S. Bach (1685-1750) or even the all-to-young Mozart (1756-1791)?
Written for two voices and a small ensemble, the composition was written while he was convalescing at St. Luigi (St. Aloysius), a monastery in Naples. Along with this piece, his output from the period includes a one-voice Salve Regina (which is strikingly similar, if not a copy/re-work of the Stabat Mater) and a number of other sacred texts.
Written for two voices and a small ensemble, the composition was written while he was convalescing at St. Luigi (St. Aloysius), a monastery in Naples. Along with this piece, his output from the period includes a one-voice Salve Regina (which is strikingly similar, if not a copy/re-work of the Stabat Mater) and a number of other sacred texts.
For now, the Pergolesi Stabat Mater:
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