Stabat Mater (Boccherini)

The Stabat Mater is a musical setting of the Stabat Mater sequence, composed by Luigi Boccherini in 1781 (G.532a) and revised in 1801 (G.532b, Op.61).[1]

Boccherini (1743–1805) was a musician best known for chamber music (string quintets). His vocal work is played less often. He worked as a cantatrice and wrote numerous religious works (including one mass, two motets and two oratorios).

His Stabat Mater was a command passed in 1781, when was patroned by the King of Spain's younger brother Luis of Spain, Count of Chinchón. It was conceived for a liturgical service at Palacio de la Mosquera, Arenas de San Pedro, where they were living. The text is a text dating from the 13th century and attributed to Jacopone da Todi which meditates on the suffering of Mary during the crucifixion. The first version consisted of one soprano voice accompanied by a string quintet (two violins, one viola, two cellos). It consists of 11 parts and lasts around three quarters of an hour. The musician rewrote it around twenty years later (in 1801) when he added an overture for two voices: a contralto and a tenor. The definitive work is known as opus 61 of the musician.

• Stabat mater dolorosa, Grave assai
• Cujus animam gementem, Allegro
• Quae moerebat et dolebat, Allegretto con moto
• Quis est homo, Adagio assai – Recitativo
• Pro peccatis suae gentis, Allegretto
• Eja mater, fons amoris, Larghetto non tanto
• Tui nati vulnerati, Allegro vivo
• Virgo virginum praeclara, Andantino
• Fac ut portem Christi mortem, Larghetto
• Fac me plagis vulnerari, Allegro comodo
• Quando corpus morietur, Andante lento