When was stabat mater written

His primary compositions were also operas, especially the new Opera Buffa comic opera. His highly influential mini-opera, La Serva Padrona was the subject of a fierce debate in France over the future of opera, and was one of the most popular operas of the midth century. The copy found in Bologna differs slightly from standard versions; for example, in the second part of the prayer, the voice of the faithful, which usually appears in the masculine, is conjugated in Medieval Latin in the feminine, underscoring the identity of the community of nuns making use of the compositions.

Over the centuries, slightly different versions of the Stabat Mater have been found and used. It has also had a shifting and unstable place in the liturgical calendar, until , when Pio X fixed it to the 15th of September.

The opening duet is particularly haunting with its typical Italianate chain of suspended harmonies that very successfully conjure up the feeling of torment and pain of the Virgin Mary, watching her son dying on the cross.

The music of Vivaldi hardly needs introduction. His popularity and fame both during his lifetime and to the present are strongly underpinned by the audacious quality and vivid colours of his instrumental concerto writing.

Of all works in the classical repertoire, his Four Seasons violin concertos must be one of the most often performed. But he also excelled in other forms, particularly cantatas, operas and, not least, sacred works. There is little doubt that he was influenced heavily by the operatic style of his day and his vocabulary is often peculiar.

In listening to his music, one is almost witness to the pungent smells, the vibrant tastes and the vivid colours that were the Venice of his time, with its fusion of cultures and its shimmering waterways.

His use of snapped rhythms, syncopation and unusual chromatic alterations give his melodies a strongly eastern tinge. And his colourful jazz-like harmonies and sequences give all of his music a distinctive quality that is recognisably Vivaldian. Handel, too, is a composer of the late Baroque era who needs little introduction. His many extraordinary oratorios and operas form the mainstay of much concert-giving and theatre throughout the world.

His orchestral concerti grossi capture the grandeur of Palladian architecture, particularly that of 18th-century London. This is true of the music in two chamber duets with continuo accompaniment set to Italian texts which are included here. The genre was established during the late 17th century by Alessandro Scarlatti amongst others. They are essentially three-movement works in the pattern fast-slow-fast.

Contrasts of key, metre and tempo are also factors that contribute to their success. His German background provided him with solid training in harmony and counterpoint. This he combined with the best of Italian and French influences. His writing also contains elements, which, though hard to describe, are wistfully English. Touch my spirit from above, make my heart with thine accord: Make me feel as thou hast felt; make my soul to glow and melt with the love of Christ my Lord.

Holy Mother! Let me mingle tears with thee, mourning Him who mourned for me, all the days that I may live: By the Cross with thee to stay, there with thee to weep and pray, is all I ask of thee to give. Virgin of all virgins blest!