Stabat Mater by Pergolesi

Solos, Choir and Piano

Vienna version of 1795 with expanded staff by Joseph Eybler (1765-1846)

revised by Otto Nicolai (1810-1849) in 1843 from the original for Soprano, Alto and Strings of 1736

Giovan Battista Draghi detto Pergolesi 1710-1736

Stabat Mater dolorosa – Grave – Soprano e Contralto soli
Cujus animam gementem – Andante amoroso – Tenore solo
O quam tristis – Larghetto – Coro
Quae moerebat – Andante – Contralto solo
Quis est homo – Largo / Allegro moderato – Coro
Vidit suum – Tempo giusto – Soprano solo
Eja, Mater – Andante – Basso solo
Fac, ut ardeat – Fuga – Coro
Sancta Mater – Tempo giusto – Soprano, Contralto e Basso soli
Fac ut portem – Largo sostenuto – Basso solo
Inflammatus et accensus – Allegro – Tenore e Basso soli
Quando corpus – Largo – Coro
Amen – Presto assai – Coro

Pergolesi last major composition, the Stabat Mater of 1736 was regarded soon after the composer’s death as one of the most popular sacred works of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. Numerous prints and copies spread this icon of Italian sacred music throughout Europe.

Reshoots and adaptations were inevitable, for example by J.S. Bach (BWV 1083), Johann Adam Hiller and Abbé Vogler.

The most popular was the so-called Viennese Version, created around 1795 for the Vienna court orchestra by Joseph von Eybler, who expanded the original’s two upper parts into a four-part Chorus with obliged solos and added sections of Woodwinds for Strings. Ignaz von Seyfried then added the Trombones to this version in 1830 and Otto Nicolai revised it in 1843 and provided it with rich dynamic information.

Soprano: Chiara Tenti, Contralto: Laura Tenti, Tenore: Marco Davanzo, Basso: Lorenzo Alzati

Pianoforte: Giovanni Tenti