Agostino Steffani (1654-1782)was born in Venice and moved to Munich at the age of thirteen. Although he embarked on a musical career, as a singer, keyboard player and composer, he developed into an accomplished diplomat, politician, bishop and, finally,Apostolic Vicar of Northern Germany. As a composer he was known in his day particularly for his vocal chamber duets and for his Hanover operas which provided a model for Handel, who freely borrowed musical material and ideas from both kinds of work and adapted them in his own compositions.

The Stabat Mater was one of the works that he submitted upon his election as honorary president for life of theLondon Academy of Vocal Music, now known as the Ancient Academy of Music.

The words of the Stabat Mater are a medieval sequence, probably Franciscan in origin. Essentially a prayer to the Virgin, the poem depicts Mary, the mother of Christ, at the foot of the cross, expresses sympathy with her and a desire to share her grief and her son’s suffering, and prays for protection on the day of judgment both from her and from the cross. Steffani’s Stabat Mater is scored for six voices(two sopranos, alto, two tenors, bass), six string instruments (2 violins, 3violas, cello/bass and organ) producing a rich and sonorous texture. The mixture of ancient and modern is somewhat reminiscent of Purcell, but the ancient also evokes the other-worldliness of the subject – the mystery of the cross – and thus promotes the composer’s expressive purpose.

Steffani’s musical style evokes distinct expressive images: for example, the chromaticism in the soprano opening underscores the suffering of Mary, a tremolo represents trembling at the text et tremebat (and trembled), and uncomfortable melodic intervals depict the harshness of the word flagelis (whipped). Perhaps the most striking example is in the final movement. Not content with imitation at orthodox intervals, Steffani also writes entries at the second. At the word morietur (die),each voice enters a note above its predecessor. The following fugue begins with a section for voices only, based on the last two lines of text. The instruments then introduce a new idea. In the final section, for voices and instruments, the material of the vocal section is combined with that of the instrumental interlude, which turns out to be the setting of ‘Amen’. All this material is exploited in the concluding twenty bars. By saving his most ambitious counterpoint to the end, Steffani ensured that the closing words, which refer to the day of judgment, would receive the maximum emphasis. As he composed this movement, he must have known that his own end was nigh: that he died shortly afterwards lends a special poignancy to his setting.

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