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Scarlatti

12-10-2015

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:
- Stanza 14, line 2: not "Te libenter" but "Et me tibi"
- Stanza 16, line 2: not "Passionis eius sortem" but "Passionis fac consortem"

Colourbar

scardom

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
Antonio Bononcini, Stabat Mater
Alessandro Scarlatti, O magnum mysterium + Domine, refugium factus est nobis
Antonio Lotti, Crucifixus
Antonio Caldara, Crucifixus

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
Sonatas for Organ

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-01

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.
A very special CD for Stabat Mater lovers: it has only Stabat Mater compositions, including the plainsong. Three composers are totally new for me.

Choir: The Sixteen
Conductor: Harry Christophers
Other works:

Plainsong Stabat Mater
Alissa Firsova, Stabat Mater
Tõnu Kõrvits, Stabat Mater
Claudio Casciolini, Stabat Mater
Domenico Scarlatti, Stabat Mater

Code: 2018 KOR-01

Listen Online

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3HVbkA3e0o

Recent posts

  • A special leaf 02-02-2019
  • Origins of Stabat Mater Latin text 21-01-2019
  • Spirit, Strength & Sorrow 11-10-2018
  • New Stabat: Pormeister-Rips 10-10-2018
  • Rossini 08-10-2018

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Categories

Religious background

My observations on the religious background of the Stabat Mater are being handicapped by the fact that I miss a READ MORE

The colourbar

The colourbar, which you will find with almost all compositions, is a graphic representation of the composition. READ MORE

Stabat Mater Foundation

The Stabat Mater foundation was established in 1998 by a number of music lovers. In 2013 they celebrated their READ MORE

In 1997 I created the Ultimate Stabat Mater website for Hans with the program FrontPage. At that time he had around 40 Stabat Mater CDs. His notes on the composer, the music, the texts and translations and the different versions all came online. After this he managed the site by adding new composers and translations regularly. At the time of his death in 2005 he had 211 Stabat Maters. After his death I continued collecting the information and managing the site. I wish to thank the Dutch Stabat Mater Foundation which gave me the financial support in 2014 to renew this site!

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