Baroque vs. Romantic

Abstract

Josquin des Pres, Palestrina, Pergolesi, Haydn, Rossini, Dvorak, Scarlatti and over a dozen more composers have set the well known Latin hymn Stabat Mater to music. The Stabat Mater has attracted the attention of many composers because of it’s vividly colorful and dramatic character. Although all works comprised of this early thirteenth century Latin text will not be showcased in this study; A comparative look and musical analysis of both the Pergolesi and the Rossini renditions will be examined. Very few poems have received as many settings as this old Latin hymn. Stabat Mater is generally divided into two hymns, Stabat Mater Dolorosa which speaks of the “sorrows of Mary during the crucifixion” while the other hymn Stabat Mater Speciosa speaks of the “Nativity of Jesus Christ”. Also in this study, I will address the similarities and differences of the two works through text analysis and translation, formal analysis, stylistic analysis such as sound, harmony, melody, rhythm, growth, and text influence with special attention to the soprano material being performed. The choices Rossini and Pergolesi made regarding instrumentation in their versions of the Stabat Mater will prove relevant to the period in which their pieces were written as well as the overall dramatic inflections present in their works. During this presentation, I will also be performing one aria from each work to show the different performance styles of both Baroque and Romantic periods.

Baroque vs. Romantic

A Comparative Study of The Stabat Mater settings of Pergolesi and Rossini

By: Devon E. Key

Musical Elements:

Harmony and Tonality

A History of the Stabat Mater

Rhythm

Stabat Mater Dolorsa

Fourteenth Century Hymn?

Sound

Uncertain Authorship

Melody and Vocal Line

Performed in Sistine Chapel

Generally Performed in it's Original Language

Harmonic Progressions

Born in Jesu, Italy in 1710

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Died in Pozzuoli, Italy in 1736

Only lived 26 YEARS!!! Woah.

COMPOSED: 15 Operas and Oratorios, 12 Cantatas, 35 Sacred Compositions including 4 Masses, 8 instrumental pieces like his Symphony in G.

Baroque vs. Romantic

A Deeper Look

One Text Setting

Introduction to Musical Genres

Two Composers

Mensurate Music

A Brief LOOK into the text!

Romanticism Defined!

FREEDOM

Dozens' of Breakdowns!

The Baroque Philosophy!

EMOTION

Two 8-Syllabic Lines+A 7-Syllable line (times 2)= A couplet of tercets (times 10)=TEN STROPHES

a Sta bat ma ter do lo ro sa

a jux ta cru cem la cri mo sa

b dum pen de bat fi li us

c Cu jus an i mam gem en tem

c con tri sta tam ac do len tem

b per tran si vit gla di us

PERFORMANCE EXAMPLES:

1.) No.6 Vidit Suum, Dulcem Natum G. Pergolesi (3 min)

2.) No. 8 Inflamatus et Accensus G. Rossini (4 min)

So What is so special about the Baroque Era?

LISTENING EXAMPLES:

conclusion

1.) No. 2 Cujus Animam gementem G. Rossini

And How is it different from Romanticism?

2.) No. 4 Pro peccatis G. Rossini

A Closer LOOK into the Works!!

". . . For his people's sins chastised, she her Jesus saw despised, saw Him by the scourges rent. Saw her own sweet offspring taken, and in death by all forsaken, while His spirit forth He sent."

Two Part Song Form; Binary Form ||: AB :||

Rossini's No. 4 Aria for Bass and Orchestra in a minor

Pergolesi's Movement 6. Aria for Soprano and Orchestra

RED TEXT, || A-B-C | D | B'-E ||

Bibliography

Predmore, G.V. Sacred Music of the Catholic Church. Boston: MacLaughlin and Reilly Co. 1936

Pierre R. Schwob, Classical Archives. n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

Grout, David. A History of Western Music,W.W. Norton, New York 1980; Stolba's  The  Develop-ment of Western Music, Wm. C. Brown, 1990, and Homer Ulrich's  Symphonic Music, Co-lumbia Press, 1952.

Osborne, Richard. Rossini: His Life and Works, Oxford UP, Cary, NC USA. 08/2007. Print.

Coles, Abraham. Stabat Mater: Hymn of the Sorrows of Mary. D Appleton and Company. New York 1866. pp. 47-102

Degrada, Francesco. Pergolesi Studies: Volume I. Pendragon Press, 1986. Print. pp. 115-210

Gjerdingen, Robert O. Music in the Galant Style. Oxford UP, Cary NC USA. 09/2007. ebrary.

Apel, Willi. Harvard Dictionary of Music. (Cambridge: 1965), p. 289, 708Coles, Abraham. “Stabat Mater”. Latin Hymns with Original Translations. New York: D. Appleton and Co. 1866

Davidson, Archibald T. The Technique of Composition. (Boston: 1966), pp. 108-110

Dent, Edward J. “Pergolesi”, Grove’s Diction-ary of Music and Musicians. 4th ed. Vol. IV. London: Macmillian and Co. , 1940

Dr. Kamil Slapak. Notes from the record jacket of the Deutsche Grammophon Recording of Dvorak’s Stabat Mater. (LPM 18818/19) , 1962

Fuller-Maitland, J.A. “Stabat Mater,” Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians. (London: 1954) , Vol. VII. , p. 29

H. V. Hughes. , Latin Hymnody. 1922, Vol. 1, p. 13March, F. A. Latin Hymns. New York: Ameri-can Book Co. 1874McHose, Allen I. The Contrapuntal Har-monic Technique of the Eighteenth Century. New York: Crofts and Co. 1947Mearns, James. “Stabat Mater Dolorsa,” A Dictionary of Hymnology , ed. J. Julian. 1908Piston, Walter. Harmony. (New York: 1941), p. 25Poutney, David. “Studying Music History: Learning Reasoning and Writing about Music History and Literature.” 2nd Edition, 1995, Prentice Hall.

Gioacchino Rossini

Born in Pesaro, Italy in 1792

Died in Passy, France in 1868

Father was a horn player

Mother was an Opera Singer!!

Wrote his first Opera at age 18!

WOOT WOOT!!

AL FINE!