Agostino Steffani: Stabat Mater XII; Quando corpus morietur – Voices of Music, Hanneke van Proosdij, David Tayler, Céline Ricci, Jennifer Ellis Kampani, Clifton Massey, Christopher LeCluyse, Paul Elliott, John Bischoff, Elizabeth Blumenstock, Maxine Nemerovski, Kati Kyme, Lisa Grodin, David Daniel Bowes, Adaiha MacAdam-Somer, Farley Pearce

Hey everyone~! Please consider a donation, http://www.voicesofmusic.org/donate.html and we will make more videos like this one 🙂 We need your help! The final movement from the Stabat Mater of Agostino Steffani, performed by the Early Music ensemble Voices of Music. After a brief introduction of ruffled homophony, Steffani presents the final lines of text and the Amen in the form of a six-part double fugue. The bipartite first fugue subject also provides supporting thematic material, and, after a vigorous exposition, the second fugue theme is introduced as an instrumental interlude: the two themes are then brilliantly combined for the final section where the instruments and voices join together, effectively creating a contrapuntal triptych–an exceptional work of ingenuity and passion by a composer writing at the end of a long and varied career. 4K UHD video from our March, 2015, concert in San Francisco.

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Text and Translation: Quando corpus morietur fac ut animae donetur paradisi gloria. Amen. When my body dies, grant that my soul is given the glory of paradise. Amen

Voices of Music Hanneke van Proosdij and David Tayler, directors The musicians (left to right, back to front) Céline Ricci, soprano Jennifer Ellis Kampani, soprano Clifton Massey, countertenor Christopher LeCluyse, tenor Paul Elliott, tenor John Bischoff, bass Elizabeth Blumenstock, baroque violin by Andrea Guarneri, Cremona, Italy, 1660 Maxine Nemerovski, baroque violin by Timothy Johnson, Bloomington, Indiana, 1999 (after Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, Italy, 17th century) Kati Kyme, baroque baroque viola, Germany, anonymous, 18th century Lisa Grodin, baroque viola by Mathias Eberl, Salzburg, Austria, 1680 David Daniel Bowes, baroque viola by Richard Duke, London, England, ca. 1780 Adaiha MacAdam-Somer, baroque cello, Anonymous, 18th century Farley Pearce, violone by George Stoppani, Manchester, 1985, after Amati, 1560 David Tayler, archlute by Andreas von Holst, Munich, 2012, after Tieffenbrucker, c1610 Hanneke van Proosdij, baroque organ by Winold van der Putten, Finsterwolde, Netherlands, 2004, after early 18th-century northern German instruments.