Scarlatti: Stabat Mater

Featuring

Lionel Meunier
Anne Nissinen
João Sebastião
Vox Luminis
Domenico Scarlatti

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Composition History

Domenico Scarlatti's Te Deum may have been performed in Lisbon on December 31, 1721, according to an article in the Gazeta de Lisboa.

Compositional Technique

The Miserere on this album is written in an austere, simple style for four unaccompanied voices, alternating with Gregorian chant, reflecting the tradition of music for the Papal chapel.

Composer Biography

Domenico Scarlatti, born in Naples in 1685, began his professional life early, becoming organist to the Royal Chapel in Naples at the age of 16.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Despite being a keyboard virtuoso, Domenico Scarlatti was primarily an inheritor of a Neapolitan and Roman musical tradition where vocal music was central to a composer's creative activity.

Historical Context

Domenico Scarlatti competed in a musical contest with George Frideric Handel, where Scarlatti was victorious on the harpsichord and Handel on the organ.

Compositional Technique

Scarlatti's Stabat Mater is notable for its unusual vocal layout of ten solo voices (4 sopranos, 2 altos, 2 tenors, 2 basses) rather than a double choir or soloists with ripieno singers.

Composer Biography

Domenico Scarlatti's sacred works often feature an archaic compositional style, linking back to the polyphonic tradition, a style still tested for entrance to the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna in Mozart's time.