Stabat Mater

by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater is a movingly beautiful and deeply personal work about compassion, transcendence and redemption, written in 1736 by the 26-year-old composer as he lay dying.
The piece became immensely popular soon after his death, thanks to its blend of familiar and new musical ideas. Ingenious and inventive throughout, the material has strikingly beautiful, tender and poignant passages mixed with more somber, formal sections. The 13 brief movements offer a profoundly moving experience.
In the fifty years following Pergolesi's death, the Stabat Mater became the most often printed piece during that time. J.S. Bach used the work almost note for note with the German text in his ”Tilge, Höchster, meline Sünden”. Other admiring composers have arranged the work for mixed chorus, including the version we will present, by Desmond Ratcliffe, which keeps a number of movements in their original form for soprano and mezzo-soprano soloists.

The Text

I. Stabat mater dolorosa

The sorrowful mother stood beside the Cross weeping, as her son was hanging

II. Cujus animam gementem

Whose moaning soul, depressed and grieving, the sword has passed through

III. O quam tristis et afflicta

O how sad and stricken was that blessed woman, mother of the only-begotten one!

IV. Quae moerebat, et dolebat

The pious mother, mourning and suffering, while she watches the punishments of the glorious son

V. Quis est homo qui non fleret

Who is the one who would not weep on seeing a mother in such great suffering?

VI. Vidit suum dulcem natum

She saw her sweet Son dying, forsaken, while he sent forth his spirit

VII. Eja mater, fons amoris

Come now, O Mother, fountain of love,, let me feel the depth of sorrow that I might mourn with you

VIII. Fac ut ardeat cor meum

Grant that my heart may burn with loving Christ the God, so that I might please him

IX. Sancta mater, istud agas

O Holy Mother, may you brand the wounds of the cross mightily in my heart

X. Fac ut portem Christi mortem

Grant that I might feel the death of Christ, and me kindred in the passion, so I can contemplate the wounds

XI. Inflammatus, et accensus

Lest I burn in the flames of hell, let me be defended by you, O Virgin, on the day of judgment

XII. Quando corpus morietur

When the body decays, grant that the glory of paradise may be bestowed on my soul

XIII. Amen

Gloria

by Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi composed his *Gloria* in Venice, in 1715, for the choir of the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for girls. A priest, music teacher and virtuoso violinist, Vivaldi composed many sacred works for the Ospedale, where he spent most of his career.
Vivaldi wrote at least three settings of the hymn *Gloria in excelsis Deo*, whose words date probably from the 4th Century and which is an integral part of the Ordinary of the Mass. Two survive: RV 588 and RV 589. The RV 589 Gloria is the version we will present.
The wonderfully sunny nature of the Gloria, with its distinctive melodies and rhythms, has made it the most famous of Vivaldi's choral pieces, and one of the best-loved works of the Baroque Era.
For two centuries after Vivaldi's death, the Gloria lay forgotten until Alfredo Casella revived the RV589 version in 1939. Since that time, the Gloria has been performed and recorded countless times. The piece is one of the most beloved in the sacred choral canon.

The Text

I. Gloria in excelsis Deo

Glory to God on high

II. Et in terra pax hominibus

And on earth peace, good will toward men

III. Laudamus te

We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee

IV. Gratias agimus tibi

We give thanks to thee for thy great glory

V. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis

Lord God, heavenly king, God the father almighty

VI. Domine Fili unigenite

Lord, the only begotten son, Jesus Christ

VII. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei

Lord God, lamb of God, son of the father, thou who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us

VIII. Qui tollis peccata mundi

Thou who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer

IX. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris

Thou who sittest at the right hand of the father, have mercy upon us

X. Quoniam tu solus sanctus

For thou alone art holy, thou alone art the Lord, thou alone are most high, Jesus Christ

XI. Cum Sancto Spiritu

With the holy spirit, in the glory of God the father, Amen

Our soloists…

Maya Kherani

Indian-American soprano MAYA KHERANI has been praised for her "rich, soaring soprano" and "crystalline tone" (Opera News) in repertoire from the Baroque to the modern. This season includes a debut at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and in Versailles as DRUSILLA/FORTUNA in L’incoronazione di Poppea with Mo. Alarcon, Messiah Boston Baroque with Martin Pearlman, Bach Cantatas Portland Baroque Orchestra with Jonathan Woody, Reena Esmail’s Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz (My Sister’s Voice) Berkeley Symphony, SUSANNA Le Nozze di Figaro and BELINDA Dido and Aeneas Opera San Jose, a world premiere project singing PIPER in Pay the Piper with Glyndebourne, and debuts with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco and Pacific MusicWorks in Seattle (repertoire TBA). Prior to her singing career, Ms. Kherani graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with a B.S.E. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and certificates (minors) in Music Performance, Materials Science, and Robotics and Intelligent Systems.