Alessandro Della Ciaia
About the composer
Alessandro Della Ciaia (c. 1605-c. 1670) was a nobleman born in Siena, Italy. He was not a professional musician, but composed music as an amateur. Nevertheless, he published three volumes of his compositions: a collection of madrigals, a collection of lamenti for voice and continuo and in 1666 the Sacri modulatus, from which comes his work Lamentatio Virginis in depositione Filii de cruce (Lament of the Virgin at the deposition from the cross of her son).
Della Ciaia may not have been a professional, still he was an expert in polyphony as well as in writing for solo voice.
He died around 1670.
About the Stabat Mater
| Date: | 1666 |
| Performers: | Soprano, mixed chorus and continuo |
| Length: | 17.04 minutes |
| Particulars: | The Lamentatio Virginis in depositione Filii de cruce is composed in the dialogue form. It opens by a duet in which the Historian tells us about the moment of the deposition from the cross. Then the solo voice (Mary) sings a lament, which is interrupted three times by a chorus of Angels, singing stanzas from the Stabat Mater poem. In the last part the Angels join Mary in her lament. |
| Textual variations: | Only three stanzas (3, 5 and 6) are sung as a kind of chorus. In stanza 3 the second line has been changed: |
| Colour bar: |
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CD information
| CD : | Channel Classics CCS 17098: Love & Lament |
| About this CD: | The disc is a representation of a new development in Italian music, exploring the possibilities of the solo voice with the accompaniment of small ensembles, especially the dialogue form that could be regarded as a predecessor of the oratorio. Recorded June 2001 in de Waalse Kerk, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. |
| Orchestra: | Cappella Figuralis |
| Choir: | Cappella Figuralis |
| Conductor: | Jos van Veldhoven |
| Soloists: | Johanette Zomer, soprano |
| Other works: | Claudio Monteverdi: Lamento della Ninfa |
| Code: | 2002 - CIA 01 |
