SCARLATTI, Francesco (1666-1741) - Miserere mei, Deus (1714)

Obra d'Antoni Viladomat (1678-1755), pintor català (1)

- Recordatori de Francesco Antonio Nicola Scarlatti -

En el dia de la celebració del seu 350è aniversari de naixement

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Parlem de Pintura...

Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (Barcelona, abril de 1678 - Barcelona, 22 de gener de 1755) va ser un pintor català. Fill de Salvador Viladomat i de Francesca Manalt, el seu pare, daurador, va treballar sovint amb artistes de l'època realitzant diversos retaules, pel que Viladomat va estar en contacte des de ben petit amb el món artístic. El 15 de juny de 1693 es va incorporar al taller del pintor Joan Baptista Perramon, amb qui va treballar fins a obtenir, als 24 anys, el mestratge. El 1698 va decorar l'església dels jesuïtes de Tarragona i el 1703 va pintar la capella de Sant Pau de la Casa de la Convalescència de Barcelona. També va ser autor, entre moltes altres obres, del cicle de vint pintures sobre la vida de Sant Francesc d'Assís per al convent de Sant Francesc de Barcelona. El 1714 va morir la seva mare i el 1720 es va casar amb Eulàlia Esmandi a la parròquia de Santa Maria del Pi. Va pintar algunes de les pintures de la Capella dels Dolors de la Basílica de Santa Maria de Mataró: els quadres dels evangelistes, els apòstols i el Via Crucis. Va ser molt prolífic al llarg de la seva vida deixant un llegat molt important, especialment d'obra religiosa. Va morir a Barcelona el gener de 1755.

Font: En català: Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (1678-1755) - En castellano: Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (1678-1755) - In english: Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (1678-1755) - Altres: Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (1678-1755) 

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Parlem de Música...

Francesco Antonio Nicola Scarlatti (Palermo, 5 de desembre de 1666 - Dublin, gener de 1741) va ser un compositor italià. Germà d'Alessandro Scarlatti, es va formar en un dels conservatoris de Nàpols entre els anys 1672 i 1674. A partir del 1684 va assolir el càrrec de violinista de la cort reial. El 1690 es va casar amb Rosolina Albano amb qui va tenir un mínim de cinc fills. El febrer de 1691 va tornar a Sicilia on va treballar com a mestre de capella a Palermo fins el 1715. Allà va ser on va estrenar i publicar la majoria de les seves obres la majoria de les quals de temàtica religiosa. El 1715 i després de rebre el suport de Johann Joseph Fux, va intentar accedir a un càrrec de vice-Kapellmeister, sense èxit, a la cort vienesa. Es creu que a tal efecte va compondre una de les seves obres més conegudes, el Miserere en Sol menor (1714). El seu fracàs va motivar el seu retorn a Itàlia establint-se a Nàpols, on va rebre una pensió. El 1719 va decidir viatjar a Londres, possiblement invitat per Händel o Geminiani, on va ser intèrpret en diversos concerts entre els anys 1719 i 1724. El 1733 va viatjar a Dublin per recomanació probable de Thomas Roseingrave o de Matthew Dubourg. Allà es creu va seguir treballant i es va tornar a casar abans de morir en una data desconeguda de principis del 1741.

OBRA:
† Atribució dubtosa

Vocal secular:

Lo Petracchio scremmetore (commeddia, A. Capis), Aversa, 1711, lost

Cants.:
Adorna il seno, B, bc, GB-Cfm*;
†Amore, ò mi togli le fiamme dal seno, S, bc, Lbl;
Belle pupille care, S, bc, D-MÜs, F-Pn, GB-Mp (? partly autograph);
†Chi la speranza, S, bc, Mp;
†E con qual cor, oh Dio!, S, bc, Lbl;
†Fileno infedel barbaro, S, bc, B-Br;
Il nuovo sole, S, A, insts, A-Wn*;
In solitario loco lungi, S, bc, D-Dlb*;
Là dove vegnano, B, bc, GB-Cfm*;
O come in un'istante, A, bc, D-Bsb, Dlb*;
†O come, o Dio!, S, bc, GB-Ob;
Pastoral Cantata, 2vv, insts, 1724, lost;
†Se lagrimate, pupille, S, bc, Cfm

Vocal religiosa:

Orats:
Agnus occisus ab origine mundi in Abele, Rome, SS Crocifisso, 1699, lost;
La profetessa guerriera, Palermo, Convento dell'Immacolata Concezione, 1703, GB-Lbl* (frag.);
Israele per foeminam triumphans, Rome, SS Crocifisso, 1710, lost;
Daniele nel lago de leoni, 5vv, insts, ?Palermo, 1710, Cfm*

Latin:
Mass, 16vv, insts, 1702, GB-Ob*;
Dixit Dominus, 16vv, insts, 1703, Ob*;
Miserere, 5vv, insts, 1714, A-Wn, GB-Lbl*;
Laetatus sum, 5vv, insts, I-Nf

Other works:
†Comincio solo, canon, 3vv, GB-Y;
†Sinfonia, C, F-Pn;
†Voi sola posete, canon, 3vv, GB-Y

Font: En català: No disponible - En castellano: No disponible - In english: Francesco Scarlatti (1666-1741) - Altres: Francesco Scarlatti (1666-1741)

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Parlem en veu pròpia o en veu d'altri...

The Scarlatti family is one of many musical dynasties in music history. Only two of its number are still well-known today: Alessandro and his son Domenico. Alessandro was born in Palermo as the second son of Pietro Scarlata - the family name in its original form - who was active as a tenor. During his career Alessandro lived and worked in several cities: Rome, Naples and Venice. At a young age he was already a famous and much sought-after composer. His younger brother Francesco – almost forgotten today - was less lucky. He was appointed as violinist at the royal court in Naples in 1684, but returned to Palermo in 1691, and stayed there for about 24 years. He tried to find appointments at the courts of Vienna and Naples, but failed. In 1719 he travelled to London, where he participated in public concerts. In 1733 he went to Dublin, where he seems to have died in 1741 or soon after. Domenico suffered tribulations too. It was only after the death of his father that he felt completely free to follow his own path, although he had left Italy five years earlier, in 1720. This disc pays attention to a part of the oeuvre of the Scarlatti family which is rarely performed and recorded. As the title of this disc indicates, its subject is an exploration of how these three Scarlattis dealt with polyphony. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) stated that polyphony, and in particular polyphony as applied by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, was the best way to implement the liturgical ideals of the Church. But at the beginning of the 17th century the musical aesthetics fundamentally changed: the text was put into the centre, and the music was supposed to express the affetti of the text. But polyphony continued to play an important role in the style of composing during the 17th and 18th centuries, in Italy and elsewhere. There were two ways of using polyphony, and both can be heard on this disc. In most cases the polyphony is enriched by the declamatory style and the harmonic freedoms of the stile nuovo. Domenico Scarlatti composed a number of works in this 'mixed' style. These included his ten-part Stabat mater and the setting of the Magnificat which is recorded here. Examples of text expression are the staccato on "dispersit superbos" (scattered the proud) and the ascending figure on "exaltavit" (exalted). 

Domenico's uncle Francesco goes much further in his setting of the Miserere (Psalm 50/51). The first two verses are full of dissonances, and in the 18th verse strong dissonances are used again on the words "contribulatus" (broken [spirit]) and "contritum" (contrite [heart]). Francesco demonstrates his contrapuntal skills in the doxology, where he writes a double fugue in eight parts on the passage "et in saecula saeculorum". Alessandro Scarlatti's setting of the Salve Regina was published in a collection of sacred pieces, printed in Amsterdam in 1707/8. In it he grasps the opportunities to translate text into music. In the 17th and 18th centuries some music was still written in the old-fashioned polyphonic style, the stile antiquo. Alessandro Scarlatti referred to his compositions in this style as written "alla Palestrina". On this disc the Mass by his son Domenico represents this style. It is written for four voices and b.c. It was found in an archive in Madrid which drew the nickname 'Missa di Madrid'. From this one may conclude that it was written during his time in Spain. Here there is hardly any connection between text and music, except some madrigalisms here and there. His use of harmony in this work is conservative. The ensemble Ex Tempore give fine performances here. The fact that some pieces are written in the stile antico of the 16th century does not mean that they should be performed as renaissance music. Fortunately Florian Heyerick is well aware of this, which is reflected in a more declamatory style of singing and the presence of greater dynamic contrast than would be appropriate in real 16th-century music. The Miserere by Francesco Scarlatti contains a number of solo sections which are sung by members of the ensemble, and they do so very well. To sum up: this is a most interesting and captivating recording of relatively little-known, but first-rate music.

Johan van Veen (source/font: aquí)

Gaudiu i compartiu! 

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Informació addicional... 

INTERPRETS: Ex Tempore; Florian Heyerick
ETCETERA-RECORDS: Alessandro, Francesco e Domenico

IMSLP: No disponible

CPDL: Francesco Scarlatti (1666-1741)

SPOTIFY: Alessandro, Francesco e Domenico



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