The Stabat Maters of Felice Sances and Alessandro Scarlatti

A key manifestation of Mary’s maternal love, perhaps even greater than that of the Nativity, was her Passion and pain upon the death of Jesus, which would serve as inspiration for Baroque composers in their tributes to the Madonna. The Stabat Mater, a long medieval poem describing Mary’s suffering at the foot of the cross where her son was tortured and died, has received numerous musical treatments ranging from highly intimate to abundantly ornate, but always with a great depth of emotion.