Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater"

Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater" is a musical setting of a latin hymn which consists of twenty couplets which describe the Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin at the Cross. There are more than sixty English translations that have been made of the Stabat Mater, Stabat Mater being the title of a thirteenth-century Latin hymn meaning "the Mother was standing."

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi composed what was to become one of his most celebrated choral works in the final weeks of his life in 1736 when suffering from tuberculosis. It was commissioned for a Neapolitan confraternity, who also asked Alessandro Scarlatti to compose a Stabat Mater. The work is divided into twelve movements, each named after the incipit of the text. There is more here on Wikipedia.

Pergolesi was in fact a nickname, his real name being Giovanni Battista Draghi but since his ancestors came from Pergola he was given the nickname. There is more about him here.

It's a work of considerable length but our choristers performed this last Easter both on tour and in our church in Ipswich. It's a beautiful work which they really connected with. I have fond memories of listening to them sing it. The Stabat Mater is available to download on Choral Wiki here. You can download the PDF and sing along with recordings on Spotify or Youtube (see below), or search for a YouTube recording which also displays the score - there are some.




Tip : some of the works listed on Choral Wiki have a midi file to help you learn the top line. An excellent piece of software called Sibelius is available for free to students which can open and play these files. 

Our choir recorded the first movement for Good Friday - below