About the composer
These pseudopolyphonic Stabat Maters (falsibordoni) were probably first sung in
villages in southern Italy on the Friday before Palm Sunday. Nowadays the Feast of the
Seven Sorrows of the Virgin - 15 September - is the most important date. Nothing is known
about who composed these Stabat Maters. They probably origin from early medieval
times. Often they are sung by the villagers during processions where the songs were
performed beside the shrines of the villages, acting like the stations. Performances by
religious brotherhoods of polyphonic Stabat Maters of this kind can also be found on the
islands of Corsica and Sardinia.
The Italian musicologist Dinko Fabris, who is very interested in the old brotherhoods of
Italy and their music, wrote a book about them:
Le confraternite dell'Italia Meridionale e la tradizione dello 'Stabat Mater' prima e
dopo Pergolesi
| Date | 1400 - 1600? |
| Performers | Soprano, Tenor |
| Length | 2.35 minutes |
| Particulars | A simple intonation of the Stabat Mater for two voices. |
| Textual variations | Only stanzas 1, 2, 9 and 20 are performed. |
| Date | 1400 - 1600? |
| Performers | Soprano, Tenor , Bass and Choir |
| Length | 7.47 minutes |
| Particulars | This Stabat Mater à trois voix (for three voices), based on a manuscript found in Monopoli, is performed in a mixed form with a Stabat Mater based on a manuscript from Santoro. |
| Textual variations | Only stanzas 1, 2, and 20 are performed in the three-voice Stabat, each stanza sung twice. The choir sings the other Stabat (only the first stanza) as a kind of chorus before and between the stanzas by the soloists. |
| CD | Alpha 009: Musica napoletana per la festa della Vergine dei Sette dolori |
| About this CD | This CD tries to paint a picture of the festivities that
took place in the streets of Naples in the 18th century during processions hold in honour
of the Virgin of the Seven Sorrows, on the Friday before Palm Sunday. Recorded in Paris, Februari 2000 |
| Choir | Les Pages de la Chapelle |
| Conductor | Olivier Schneebell |
| Soloists | Patrizia Bovi, soprano Pino de Vittorio, tenor Bernard Arrieta, bass |
| Other works | Anonymus: Tarantella Francesco Durante: Concerto nr 4 en mi Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Stabat Mater |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl