Domenico Scarlatti
About the composer
Domenico Scarlatti (1685 – 1757), the son of Alessandro Scarlatti, was born in Naples, Italy. He composed operas, like his father, but these have been completely forgotten. However, he is regarded as one of the founders of modern keyboard music and composed almost 600 pieces for clavichord. In 1709 he was already so widely known that a cardinal from Naples invited him to a duel with Händel, who was visiting that town. His “Stabat Mater a Dieci Voci e Basso Continuo” was composed in Rome and is one of his few sacred works still known.
About the Stabat Mater
| Date: | ca. 1715 |
| Performers: | 10 voices (SSSSAATTBB) + continuo (cello, double-bass, organ) |
| Length: | CD 1: 32.06 minutes, CD 2: 26.44 minutes, CD 3: 24.01 minutes |
| Particulars: | Scarlatti's Stabat Mater is written in a meditative mood and clearly intended for liturgical use. The composition is divided into seven sections, varying from 1 to 5 stanzas. Compared to other works from that time, that are influenced strongly by the Neapolitan School it still is predominantly based on sixteenth century forms, with sinuous polyphonic melodies in a counterpoint tapestry, though now and then individual voices come to the foreground. The last part of three stanzas contrasts to a high degree with earlier sections in view of the dancing fugues that open and end this section and that are more in accordance with the period. |
| Textual variations: | The "Analecta"-version of the text is used, with following changes: |
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CD information
| CD 1: | Decca 443 869-2 (double CD): Pergolesi, Stabat Mater – Scarlatti – Bononcini |
| About this CD: | A nice collection of Stabat Maters and some other works, even if the registrations are rather old. As it is the only Bononcini registration that I know of, every collector should have it. Scarlatti was recorded in 1973. Of the two interpretations I think the other one is better, as I find the voices sound somewhat “harsh”. Maybe the choir was much larger as the 10 voices that the score prescribes? |
| Choir: | Schütz Choir of London |
| Conductor: | Roger Norrington |
| Other works: | Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Magnificat in C major |
| Code: | BON-01 |
| CD 2: | Hyperion CDA66182: Domenico Scarlatti, Stabat Mater |
| About this CD: | I like this one best. The voices blend together beautifully and the singing sounds very relaxed. In stanza 18 a soprano and tenor sing a duet as soloists. Recorded in the Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, in August 1985. |
| Choir: | Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford |
| Conductor: | Francis Grier |
| Other works: | Salve Regina |
| Code: | SCA.D-01 |
| CD 3: | Stabat Mater 2009 (Stabat Mater Foundation) |
| About this CD: | The cd is a recording of a concert performed on March 29, 2009 in the St.Petrus church at Oirschot, published by the Dutch Stabat Mater Foundation. |
| Orchestra: | Combattimento Consort Amsterdam |
| Choir: | Capella Isalana |
| Conductor: | Jan Willem de Vriend |
| Other works: | Giovanni Gualberto Brunetti: Stabat Mater |
| Code: | 2009 BRU-02 |
| CD 4: | COR16127 Spirit, Strength & Sorrow |
| About this CD: | This CD, Spirit, Strength & Sorrow is the result of the Sixteen’s third major commissioning collaboration and features three new Stabat Mater compositions, by Alissa Firsova, Tõnu Kõrvits and Matthew Martin. |
| Choir: | The Sixteen |
| Conductor: | Harry Christophers |
| Other works: | Plainsong Stabat Mater |
| Code: | 2018 KOR-01 |
