Stabat Mater Concert 2020 - Cancelled

Due to the Coronavirus, we have decided to cancel the Stabat Mater Concert to protect the well being of anyone who would otherwise be attending. Thank you for understanding.

Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater is one of the most famous compositions ever written in praise of the Virgin Mary. The text dates from the thirteenth century, and describes Mary, the sorrowful mother, witnessing the suffering of her son from the base of the cross. Commissioned in 1736 by the Most Noble Order of the Knights of Our Lady of Sorrows in Naples, Pergolesi’s setting replaced a Stabat Mater by Alessandro Scarlatti that had been performed for twenty years and had become outdated. Eschewing the contrapuntal severity typical of Baroque sacred music, Pergolesi achieved a natural or “gallant” compositional style by focusing musical interest in the vocal melodies, and diligently reflecting the metrical stress and expressive sensibility of the poignant text in the music. Instruments played an accompanying role, often doubling the voice parts and only occasionally providing contrapuntal interest. Johann Sebastian Bach acknowledged the power of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater by borrowing its music for his cantata Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden, BWV 1083. This work’s significance, however, extends far beyond its position in music history or the ecclesiastical tradition for which it was written. Here is a moving, profoundly human picture of a grieving mother.