Stabat Mater  

Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, which was written in Italy in the thirteenth century, is one of the most famous sequences in the Catholic liturgy. This long sixty-line poem in Latin describes the sorrow of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross where she watched her son die. Composers in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance period set this harrowing text to music. However, it was during the baroque period that the Virgin came to the fore as an even greater focus for devotion and the Stabat Mater became an iconic staple of sacred music. The most famous version is by Pergolesi, a composer who died at the age of 26, thus sparking a legend reminiscent of Mozart and his Requiem. The work was frequently performed and edited in the seventeenth century and helped to establish the author’s posthumous reputation. In counterpoint, Vincent Dumestre and his ensemble Le Poème Harmonique will present other pieces in the same register contemporaneous with Pergolesi, performed by two very promising young singers.

Production Les Grandes Voix 
Concert diffusé par France Musique le 18 février à 20 heures dans l’émission Le concert du soir présenté par Clément Rochefort. Puis disponible en streaming sur le site de France Musique et l’appli Radio France.