Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)
- Mottetto a Più voci 'In hac die tam decora' (c.1732)
Performers: Rachel Redmont (soprano); Marta Fumagalli (contralto); Ghislieri Choir & Consort; Giulio Prandi (conductor)
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Italian composer and violinist. Following early training in Jesi under
Francesco Santini, he enrolled in the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù
Cristo in Naples, where his teachers were Gaetano Greco and Francesco
Feo. He began his compositional career composing oratorios, such as the
1731 'La conversion e morte di San Guglielmo'. His first opera,
'Salustia', written for Naples in 1732, was a limited success, but he
was appointed as maestro di capella to Prince Ferdinando Colonna
Stigliano. Other operatic successes followed, but the most important was
his 1733 'Il prigionero superbo' with its two-act intermezzo 'La serva
padrona'. This is considered a seminal work in the creation of the
buffa. A second appointment at the court of the Duke of Maddaloni in
1734 led to further commissions, such as the opera 'L’Olimpiade', which
premiered at the Teatro Tordinona in Rome in 1735. Although this work
was initially not a success, Pergolesi’s career was meteoric. His
health, however, deteriorated and in 1736 he was confined to the
Capuchin monastery in Pozzuoli, where he died from tuberculosis.
Although he was only 26, he completed 11 operas and oratorios, two
Masses, five cantatas (including Orfeo in 1736), two Salve Reginas, one
Magnificat, a set of Marian vespers, and his most famous work, the
Stabat mater, which was commissioned by the Confraternità dei Cavalieri
di San Luigi di Palazzo shortly before his death (although a later
composer, Giovanni Paisiello, claimed it had actually been written
around 1730). His instrumental works were few, including four violin
sonatas and possibly a violin concerto. Following his untimely death,
his reputation spread throughout Europe, and a number of works were
falsely attributed to him, such as a set of six concerti grossi (now
known to be by Uno van Wassenaer). His Stabat mater was performed widely
(in various arrangements), and his Serva padrona was considered the
epitome of the new Italian comic style, particularly in Paris, where it
served as the center of the Querelle des bouffons. His style emphasizes
diatonic melody and triadic harmony, often with good contrasting themes.
He was a leading figure in the rise of Italian comic opera in the 18th
century.
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