Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Stabat Mater in Full Score

by: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Amazon Price: $12.95 (as of 01/03/2010)

Considered by many Pergolesi's greatest work, the Stabat Mater is a setting of a medieval Latin poem about the sorrows of the Virgin Mary at Christ's crucifixion. Scored for soprano, alto, and strings, it is music of transcendent beauty and poignancy. This Italian Baroque masterpiece is reproduced here in an inexpensive, authoritative edition. Text and English translation.

This score is a reprint of an edition prepared by Alfred Einstein, most celebrated as author of the important study "Mozart: His Character, His Work" (1945). Dover's title page states that it is "edited from the autograph manuscript," but gives no further details (i.e., no critical commentary [assuming Einstein provided one], nor even the original date of publication). However, a translation of the Latin text is given immediately before the score.
The score is given in a clear, legible format and should be useful to lovers of Pergolesi's masterpiece, which was an immediate hit in the 18th century (not that it did Pergolesi much good; he died the year it was completed, at age 26) and inspired scores of adaptations, including one by J.S. Bach. The music foreshadows post-Baroque trends such as Rococco ("Quae moerebat et dolebat," No. 4, is a case in point). A good and inexpensive edition.