# Stabat Mater (Pergolesi)

Stabat Mater (P.77) is a musical setting of the Stabat Mater sequence, composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi in 1736. Composed in the final weeks of Pergolesi's life, it is scored for soprano and alto soloists, violin I and II, viola and basso continuo.
The autograph manuscript of the work is preserved in the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino.

## 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. The work was composed for a Neapolitan confraternity, the Cavalieri della Vergine dei Dolori di San Luigi al Palazzo, which had also commissioned a Stabat Mater from Alessandro Scarlatti. Pergolesi composed it during his final illness from tuberculosis in a Franciscan monastery in Pozzuoli, along with a Salve Regina setting, and finished it shortly before he died.

## Reception

The Stabat Mater is one of Pergolesi's most celebrated sacred works, achieving great popularity after the composer's death. 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". Many composers adapted the work, including Giovanni Paisiello, who extended the orchestral accompaniment, 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.

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

## Recordings

| Release Year | Soloists | Conductor | Orchestra | Label | Catalog Number |
| 1949 (excerpts recorded 1939) | Hans Schneider Hans Frank, Erich Kuchar | Victor Gomboz | | History | 205207 |
| 1947 | Joan Taylor Kathleen Ferrier | Roy Henderson | The Boyd Need Orchestra | Decca | AK1517 - AK1521 |
| 1951 | Anna Maria Augenstein Hetty Plümacher | Hans Grischkat | Ton-Studio Orchestra of Stuttgart | Nixa | 530 |
| 1955 | Teresa Stich-Randall Elisabeth Höngen | Mario Rossi | Vienna State Opera Orchestra | Bach Guild | 549 |
| 1956 | Friederike Sailer Hanne Münch | Günter Kehr | Mainzer Kammerorchester | Vox | 9960 |
| 1958 | Margot Guilleaume Jeanne Deroubaiz | Matthieu Lange | Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester | Archiv | 14098 |
| 1965 | Judith Raskin Maureen Lehane | Franco Caracciolo | Orchestra Rossini di Napoli | Decca | 6153 |
| 1966 | Evelyn Lear Christa Ludwig | Lorin Maazel | Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra | Phillips | 3590 |
| 1990 (live 1968 performance) | Gundula Janowitz Maureen Forrester | Claudio Abbado | Berlin Philharmonic | Myto | 905.25 |
| 1969 | Margaret Tynes Anita Turner-Butler | Massimo Bruni | Prague Chamber Orchestra | Supraphon | 1112 0620 |
| 1972 | Luciana Ticinelli-Fattori Maria Minetto | Edwin Loehrer | Società Cameristica di Lugano | Erato | 55046 |
| 1973 | Mirella Freni Teresa Berganza | Ettore Gracis | Solisti Dell'Orchestra "Scarlatti" Napoli | Archiv | 2533 114 |
| 1973 | Ingeborg Müller-Ney Tuula Nienstedt | | Heidelberger Kammerorchester | Sastruphon | SM 007047 |
| 1979 | Margaret Marshall Alfreda Hodgson | Günter Kehr | Mainzer Kammerorchester | Candide | 31118 |
| 1979 | Klaus Brettschneider, Stefan Frangoulis Christian Siferlinger, Michael Stumpf | Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden | English Baroque Ensemble | Philips | 6501 011 |
| 1979 | Ileana Cotrubas Lucia Valentini-Terrani | Claudio Scimone | I Solisti Veneti | Erato | 71179 |
| 1980 | Felicity Palmer Alfreda Hodgson | George Guest | Argo Chamber Orchestra | Argo | 591023 |
| 1981 | Magda Kalmar Julia Hamari | Lamberto Gardelli | Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, Budapest | Hungaroton | 12201-2 |
| 1983 | Sebastian Hennig René Jacobs | René Jacobs | Concerto Vocale | Harmonia Mundi | 1119 |
| 1985 | Margaret Marshall Lucia Valentini-Terrani | Claudio Abbado | London Symphony Orchestra | Deutsche Grammophon | 415103 |
| 1987 | Mieke van der Sluis Gérard Lesne | René Clemencic | Clemencic Consort | Accord | 200062 |
| 1987 | Véronique Dietschy Alain Zaepffel | Paul Colleaux | Ensemble Stradivaria | Adda | 581016 |
| 1988 | Gillian Fisher Michael Chance | Robert King | The King's Consort | Hyperion | 66294 |
| 1989 | Emma Kirkby James Bowman | Christopher Hogwood | Academy of Ancient Music | Decca | 425 692-2 |
| 1990 | Krisztina Laki Julia Hamari | Agostino Orizio | Orchestra da Camera del Festival Internazionale di Brescia e Bergamo | Fonè | 90 F 03 |
| 1991 | Mária Zádori Derek Lee Ragin | Pál Németh | Capella Savaria | harmonia mundi | 3903011 |
| 2000 (recorded 1993) | Cecilia Gasdia Delores Ziegler | Claudio Scimone | I Solisti Veneti | Warner | 8573-81276 |
| 1993 | June Anderson Cecilia Bartoli | Charles Dutoit | Montreal Sinfonietta | Decca | 436209 |
| 1993 | Dennis Naseband Jochen Kowalski | Hartmut Haenchen | Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra | Berlin Classics | 115112 |
| 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 | Regina Klepper Martina Borst | | Bamberg String Quartet | Capriccio Records | 10517 |
| 1996 | Katia Ricciarelli Manuela Custer | Giorgio Croci | I Filarmonici | Tactus | 711602 |
| 1998 | Evelyn Lear Christa Ludwig | 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 |
| 2004 | Roberta Invernizzi, soprano Sonia Prina, contralto | Ottavio Dantone | Accademia Bizantina | Paragon per Amadeus | AM 180-2 |
| 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 | Elisabeth Norberg-Schulz Nathalie Stutzmann | Roy Goodman | Hanover Band | RCA | 61215 |
| 2009 | Katia Ricciarelli Lucia Valentini-Terrani | 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 |
| 2010 | Rachel Harnisch Sara Mingado | Claudio Abbado | Orchestra Mozart | Archiv | 477 8077 |
| 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 |
| 2019 | Mariella Devia Francesca Provvisionato | Daniele Callegari | Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana | Fonè | 130 |
| 2020 | Sandrine Piau Christopher Lowrey | Christophe Rousset | Les Talens Lyriques | Alpha Productions | 449 |
| 2021 | Samuel Mariño Filippo Mineccia | Marie Van Rhijn | Orchestre de l'Opéra Royal | Château de Versailles Spectacles | 033 |