De Umbrarum
The Chamber Music Cycle of Auditorio de Tenerife presents the concert De Umbrarum (From the shadows) performed by El Afecto Ilustrado, Hugo Bolívar (Carlos Mena is sick) and Jone Martínez.
"From the shadows", from the Latin De Umbrarum is formed by two works that are intimately linked to one another. Both musically address the pain associated with the Virgin Mary as she faces the Passion and Death of her Son, following the pattern of the very famous medieval sequence of the Stabat Mater Dolorosa. However, the two works follow one another immediately on a time line, and were commissioned by the same body, the Confraternità dei Cavalieri di San Luigi di Palazzo. This historical fact turns tonight's programme into a special gathering of both works in the form of an altarpiece; in a very beautiful opportunity to address two spiritual meditations on a single theme, with the same aim, and with rhetorical devices that are similar, but not the same. Two different characters creating a musical discourse on one of the Marian passages that has given rise to the most artistic activity over time.
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Stabat Mater
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)
Stabat Mater
The Stabat Mater genre led to the ardent artistic imagination of the Baroque period, not only in music, but also in almost all artistic disciplines. The sequence of the 13th century offers the following vision:
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Stabat Mater dolorosa Iuxta crucem lacrimosa, Dum pendebat filius. Cuius animam gementem Contristatam et dolentem Pertransivit gladius. O quam tristis et afflicta Fuit illa benedicta Mater unigeniti Quae maerebat et dolebat. Et tremebat, cum videbat Nati poenas incliti. Quis est homo qui non fleret, Matrem Christi si videret In tanto supplicio? Quis non posset contristari, Piam matrem contemplari Dolentem cum filio? Pro peccatis suae gentis Jesum vidit in tormentis Et flagellis subditum. Vidit suum dulcem natum Morientem desolatum Dum emisit spiritum. Eja mater fons amoris, Me sentire vim doloris Fac ut tecum lugeam. Fac ut ardeat cor meum In amando Christum Deum, Ut sibi complaceam. Sancta mater, istud agas, Crucifixi fige plagas Cordi meo valide. Tui nati vulnerati Tam dignati pro me pati, Poenas mecum divide! Fac me vere tecum flere, Crucifixo condolere, Donec ego vixero. Juxta crucem tecum stare Te libenter sociare In planctu desidero. Virgo virginum praeclara, Mihi jam non sis amara, Fac me tecum plangere. Fac ut portem Christi mortem, Passionis eius sortem Et plagas recolere. Fac me plagis vulnerari, Cruce hac inebriari Ob amorem filii, Inflammatus et accensus, Per te virgo sim defensus In die judicii. Fac me cruce custodiri, Morte Christi praemuniri, Confoveri gratia. Quando corpus morietur Fac ut animae donetur Paradisi gloria. Amen. |
The grieving Mother Stood weeping by the cross While her son hung there. A sword pierced Her pained saddened And grieving mind. She was so sad and pained The Blessed Mother Of the only-begotten Son Mourning and grieving. She trembled when she saw The pain of her glorious son. Who would not weep If he saw the Mother of Christ In such pain? Who would not be saddened On seeing the pious Mother Grieving over her son? For the sins of his people She saw Jesus in torment Overwhelmed by the flagellation. She saw her sweet son Dying in despair And giving up his spirit. Oh, Mother, fountain of love, Make me feel your pain, I want to weep with you. Set my heart on fire With love for God And to fulfil his will. Holy Mother, I beg you To pierce my heart With the wounds of the one crucified, Your wounded son Who suffered so greatly for me Let me take on your pain! Let me weep with you Let me feel for the one on the cross For as long as I live. Let me be with you at the foot Of the cross and join with You in your weeping. Virgin of Virgins highly exalted Be not bitter with me, let me weep with you. Let me bear the death of Christ, Let me join in his passion, Let me feel his wounds. Wound me with his wounds, Fill me with this cross, For the love of your son. Enflamed with deep love, Let me be defended by you, Virgin, On the day of judgement. Keep me safe with the cross, Guard me in the death of Christ To be favoured in grace. When my body dies, May the glory of heaven Be given to my soul. Amen. |
Based on this text, the creators of the Baroque era began to bring scripture into music through endless rhetorical resources, which, although common and similar, are used in different ways in both Stabat Materpieces.
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) composed his famous work in 1724, a year before his death, for the Friday of Sorrows celebrations in Naples. The Sicilian creator, who had amassed truly significant compositional baggage by the end of his life, and was a consecrated maestro of the opera scene, develops an impeccable rhetorical discourse over 18 movements, full of twists that perfectly illustrate each of the sections of the Latin sequence. Musically, we are dealing with a piece devised for two singers, two violins and basso continuo, with simple lines, but enormous expressive power.
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736) composed his famous Stabat Mater a few months before his death, as a commission from the same Neapolitan brotherhood to replace that of Scarlatti, which was considered too outdated for the masses devoted to Our Lady of Sorrows. The work immediately became so famous that a large number of creators such as Johann Sebastian Bach produced adaptations or used its themes as parts or bases for new compositions. Figures such as Jean Jacques Rousseau offered glowing praise for its famous beginning, and it soon became the great musical success of its time, despite the short life of its creator. By adding a viola part to the ensemble presented by Scarlatti, the Stabat Mater by Pergolesi attains exquisite expressiveness and drama, which are a true paradigm of the rhetorical mechanism of the era. Structured around only 12 movements, the level of lyricism is truly spectacular.
De Umbrarum offers a genuine chance to appreciate the similarities and difference between both works, which undoubtedly display the quality of composition in the Kingdom of Naples during the first half of the 18th century. Alongside the magnificent voices of Jone Martínez and Carlos Mena, El Afecto Ilustrado is presenting this programme which aims to be a kaleidoscope of ideas, a combination of feelings to imagine the suffering mother.
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