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In the course of his short life, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) wrote ten operas, an oratorio and many spiritual works including the opera Li prodigi della divina grazia – his “degree work” on completing the Conservatorio in Naples. Fame came to him with the comic opera La serva padrona and the psalm Stabat mater, which relates the sufferings of the Virgin Mary and can be heard in the Catholic Church, as a rule during Holy Week.
Pergolesi wrote Stabat mater not long before his death on 16 March 1736. Seriously ill and with no hopes for a recovery, the composer settled in a Franciscan monastery. Stabat mater is the fruit of his rivalry by default with Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725), whose own work to this Latin text was extremely popular in Naples. Pergolesi’s composition has the same cast of performers that Scarlatti had chosen for his own work, but it is in a completely new style. It is a gallant style that came from secular music, born to convey natural emotions in a simple and accessible form.
Stabat mater was to become incredibly well known. In the 18th century this work was performed throughout Europe, and the sheet music was published on many occasions. Even in the 19th century, Pergolesi’s art did not sink into oblivion. After all, how could they spurn a composer who had died very young from tuberculosis in the era of Romanticism?
Anna Bulycheva
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Hector Berlioz’ symphonie dramatique Roméo et Juliette was composed in 1839 and was premiered one year later. The text was written by Émile Deschamps, who turned to David Garrick’s treatment of Shakespeare’s tragedy.
In this work, Berlioz confirmed his reputation as the heir to Beethoven, whose Ninth Symphony also hints at the scale of Roméo et Juliette (at the premiere, the orchestra consisted of one hundred and sixty musicians) and the idea to use a chorus and soloists. Roméo is thus halfway between a symphony and an opera.
Berlioz selected key scenes from Shakespeare’s tragedy, but he placed the accents individually, like a true Romantic. The choral introduction and the finale frame three symphonic movements that are the most famous parts of the symphony: Grande fête chez Capulet, Scène d'amour, Juliette sur le balcon et Roméo dans l'ombre, La reine Mab, reine des songes (scherzo). Most of all, the finale with Father Lorenzo’s aria and the choral Oath of Reconciliation come close to the operatic stage.
Already in the 19th century, the symphony Roméo et Juliette had won acclaim from Russian audiences. Unsurprisingly, echoes of Berlioz can be heard even in Swan Lake.
Anna Bulycheva
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