Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista

(b Iesi, Marche, 4 Jan 1710; d Pozzuoli, nr Naples, 16 March 1736). Italian

composer. He was a leading figure in the rise of Italian comic opera in the 18th
century.
1. Life.
2. Posthumous fame.
3. Works.
WORKS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HELMUT HUCKE, DALE E. MONSON
Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista
1. Life.
His grandfather, Cruciano Draghi, was a shoemaker, a son of Maestro Francesco
from Pergola; he married a woman from Iesi in that town on 1 January 1663. The
family was known as ‘Pergolesi’ from the town of their origin (although the
composer’s elder brother and sister were entered in the baptismal register under
the name ‘Draghi’). In the files of the conservatory where he studied, Giovanni
Battista is entered under the name ‘Jesi’, although he called himself ‘Pergolesi’; in
contemporary records the form ‘Pergolese’ is also used.
The composer’s father, Francesco Andrea Draghi-Pergolesi, was a surveyor, and
in that capacity formed links with the nobility of Iesi. One such nobleman was the
godfather of Giovanni Battista, the third child; another defended his interests in a
dispute over the will after his father’s death on 27 May 1732 (his mother had died
in 1727). The composer’s two brothers and one sister died in infancy, and even as
a child Giovanni Battista seems to have been sickly: it is significant that he was
confirmed as early as 27 May 1711. The caricaturist Pier Leone Ghezzi met the
composer in Rome in 1734 and sketched his profile that May. After Pergolesi’s
death Ghezzi expanded the sketch to a full-length caricature with a note that he
suffered greatly from a deformed leg and limped (see fig.1). This is the only
likeness of Pergolesi linked with any certainty to the composer. He died from
tuberculosis.
According to later tradition, Pergolesi received his elementary musical training
from the maestro di cappella at Iesi, Francesco Santi, and was instructed on the
violin by Francesco Mondini, the public music master. Through the Marquis
Cardolo Maria Pianetti, of Iesi, he was sent to study at the Conservatorio dei
Poveri di Gesù Cristo in Naples at some time between 1720 and 1725. Gaetano
Greco, maestro di cappella of the conservatory until his death in 1728, was
Pergolesi’s instructor in composition; Greco was succeeded for a few months by
Leonardo Vinci and then, from October 1728, by Francesco Durante. Pergolesi
did not have to pay maintenance or tuition expenses at the conservatory because
he took part in musical performances, first as a choirboy, later as a violinist and as
capoparanza (the leading violinist of one of the groups of instrumentalists made
available by the conservatory for performances in Naples and the surrounding
area). Villarosa, whose account is based on a manuscript by Giuseppe
Sigismondo, wrote in superlatives of his skill and improvisations as a violinist.
A dramma sacro by Pergolesi, Li prodigi della divina grazia nella conversione di S
Guglielmo Duca d’Aquitania, was performed by the conservatory in summer 1731
at the monastery of S Agnello Maggiore. Such performances were part of a
tradition whereby the Naples conservatories gave their advanced students the
opportunity to make their public débuts as composers; they were commissioned to
compose drammi sacri, three-act religious operas with buffo scenes. After
Pergolesi’s death S Guglielmo was twice revised, once as a two-part opera (in
Rome, 1742).
Pergolesi must have left the conservatory in the late summer of 1731. A Mass in D
probably dates from this era and he received his first opera commission in 1731,
which reflects his growing and influential patronage. The libretto chosen was
Alessandro Severo, written by Zeno for Venice in 1716 and now revised as
Salustia. It would seem, from the fact that the author of the text for the intermezzo
(possibly Domenico Caracajus) himself set the recitatives of the second part to
music, that Pergolesi had to compose the music in haste. The most famous
member of the cast for Salustia, Nicolini, died on 1 January 1732; Gioacchino
Conti was brought from Rome, two roles changed hands, and Pergolesi had to
make last-minute alterations. Accordingly, the opera was not staged until the
second half of January 1732, and apparently it had little success; the second
opera of the season, Alessandro nell-Indie by the court maestro di cappella
Francesco Mancini, followed as early as 2 February.
In 1732 Pergolesi became maestro di cappella to Prince Ferdinando Colonna
Stigliano, equerry to the Viceroy of Naples. Lo frate ’nnamorato, his first
commedia musicale, was performed at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples on 27
September 1732; the libretto was by G.A. Federico, a lawyer and the leading
Neapolitan comedy writer of the time. Lo frate ’nnamorato met with unusual
success. The performances may have continued into 1733, and for Carnival 1734
Pergolesi had to revise the work for a new cast. When there was a new production
of the opera in 1748, at the Teatro Nuovo, the work was said to have been recited
and sung in the city streets for the previous 20 years.
There were earthquakes in 1731 and again in November 1732; the archbishop
summoned the people to services of atonement and the municipality elected St
Emidius, protector against earthquakes, as the city’s special patron saint. A vow
was taken to celebrate his festival annually with a solemn mass and double
vespers, and the decree was formally proclaimed on 31 December 1732 in the
church of S Maria della Stella. Villarosa reported that Pergolesi composed for the
occasion a mass for double chorus, a Domine ad adjuvandum me and the psalms
Dixit Dominus, Laudate and Confitebor. It is probable that the Mass in F and
perhaps the vesper introit Deus in adjutorium (‘Domine ad adjuvandum me’), as
well as other vesper psalms, were performed on this occasion; the extant psalm
Laudate pueri, however, belongs among Pergolesi’s last works. The brief interval
(19 days) between the election of St Emidius and the celebration suggests that
the mass (the autograph of which is dedicated to the saint) may have been written
earlier, or for a later celebration of the event.
During Carnival 1733 the theatres in Naples remained closed as a sign of
atonement. For the empress’s birthday (28 August 1733) Pergolesi was
commissioned to write an opera, Il prigioniero superbo (after Silvani’s libretto La
fede tradita e vendicata). The impresario had engaged an unusual and small cast:
there was no primo uomo and the prima donna was an alto. The text of the
intermezzo, La serva padrona, was written by Federico. For some reason the first
performance did not take place until 5 September 1733; there were further
performances continuing into October. On 23 February 1734, presumably
because of his services during the festivities in honour of St Emidius, Pergolesi
was appointed deputy to the maestro di cappella of the city, Domenico Sarro, with
the right to succeed him.
In March 1734 the claimant to the Neapolitan throne, Charles Bourbon,
approached the city with Spanish troops. The Austrians, who had ruled Naples
since 1707 through a viceroy, retreated into the citadel and remained there until
the beginning of May; on 10 May Charles celebrated his solemn entry into the city
and reinstated the Kingdom of Naples. Pergolesi’s patron, the Prince of Stigliano,
had withdrawn to Rome. Another Neapolitan nobleman, Marzio Domenico IV
Carafa, Duke of Maddaloni, ordered a performance of a mass by Pergolesi in the
church of S Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome, on the festival of St John Nepomuk (16 May
1734); this was the Mass in F (probably performed earlier in Naples), which
aroused great interest, if only because the Neapolitan ‘number’ mass was unusual
in Rome. In his diary Ghezzi reported mockingly that it was an extraordinary event
and a ‘musica spaventosa’ performed by all the singers and violinists of Rome. In
Valesio’s chronicle it is stated that the maestro di cappella had been specially
brought from Naples at the expense of the duke’s mother (an aunt of the Prince of
Stigliano). Because of the congestion in the church, it was noted, the floor and the
corner of the choir rostrum subsided.
It may have been in connection with the performance that Pergolesi entered the
Duke of Maddaloni’s service as maestro di cappella. He probably returned to
Naples in the duke’s entourage in June 1734. The duke was interested in
literature and was an amateur cellist; Pergolesi’s cello sinfonia was no doubt
composed for him. The duke’s uncle and guardian, Lelio Carafa, Marquis
d’Arienzo, was among the closest friends of King Charles, and in September 1734
was entrusted with the supervision of the opera house. Pergolesi was
commissioned to write an opera for the birthday of the king’s mother on 25
October 1734. The libretto chosen was Metastasio’s Adriano in Siria; the text of
the intermezzo (now known as Livietta e Tracollo) was supplied by Tommaso
Mariani. One of the most famous singers of the 18th century, Caffarelli, who had
been admitted into King Charles’s musical establishment, was engaged as primo
uomo. In setting the libretto Pergolesi had to take note of Caffarelli’s wishes, and
Metastasio’s text was considerably rewritten. This was Pergolesi’s last serious
opera for Naples. In a statement by the impresario of the Teatro S Bartolomeo to
the Marquis d’Arienzo in 1735, Pergolesi is no longer mentioned among the
composers who could be called on, and in a second document it is stated that he
was esteemed as a musician but that his last opera had failed to please.
It must accordingly have come as some compensation to Pergolesi that his mass
in S Lorenzo in Lucina had aroused the interest of the Roman public; he was
commissioned to set Metastasio’s L’olimpiade for the Teatro Tordinona in Rome
for Carnival 1735. Metastasio, who had reports sent to him in Vienna about the
preparations for the première, became indignant: the chorus which he required
had been omitted, and the cast was mediocre. Nevertheless, Pergolesi (who
apparently wrote most of the opera in Naples) had to make further alterations for
the singers; he composed one new aria, and in four others drew on Adriano in
Siria. The performances began in January. After a few days they were interrupted
when the Rome theatres were closed because of the death of Maria Clementina
Stuart-Sobieski, wife of the pretender to the English throne. Performances were
resumed on 23 January, but the theatres were again closed on 1 and 2 February
for the Candlemas festival; by 5 February the next opera, Ciampi’s Demofoonte,
was in production. Grétry’s report, which depends on Duni for its evidence, states
that L’olimpiade was a failure and that a member of the audience threw an orange
which struck Pergolesi on the head (one of the many traditional stories about him).
It must be admitted that initially L’olimpiade did not apparently enjoy any special
success; but it lived on in multiple restagings, and some passages in the opera,
such as the aria ‘Se cerca, se dice’, were later considered unrivalled for dramatic
effect; Galuppi, Hasse, Jommelli and others based their own settings of the text
on Pergolesi’s model. It was also heard in numerous pasticcio versions throughout
Europe, including the one given on 20 April 1742 at the King’s Theatre, London,
as Meraspe. An extensive manuscript tradition attests the fact that L’olimpiade
was still highly esteemed by connoisseurs and operagoers in the second half of
the century.
Pergolesi’s health seems to have deteriorated in summer 1735. He had his last
theatrical success with Il Flaminio, a comedy on a text by Federico produced in
the Teatro Nuovo in Naples in autumn 1735; the libretto refers to Pergolesi as
organist of the royal chapel. The comedy was performed again in winter 1737 at
the Teatro dei Fiorentini, and for Carnival 1743 it was given in Siena as a
divertimento giocoso; it was also staged with a new production of Lo frate
’nnamorato in the Teatro Nuovo in Naples in 1748 and 1749. Pergolesi was
commissioned to write a serenata (Il tempo felice) for the wedding of Raimondo di
Sangro, Prince of Sansevero, at Torremaggiore in December 1735. According to
the libretto, dated 9 November 1735, the second part was set by Nicola Sabatino
because Pergolesi was in poor health.
Early in 1736 Pergolesi moved into the Franciscan monastery in Pozzuoli founded
by the ancestors of his patron, the Duke of Maddaloni. His aunt, Cecilia Giorgi,
from Iesi, who had been his housekeeper, remained in Naples; he is said to have
handed his possessions over to her, which suggests that he did not expect to
recover. According to Boyer, during his final illness Pergolesi composed the
cantata Orfeo, the Stabat mater and (his last work) the Salve regina in C minor for
soprano and strings (the cantata was in fact written before Il Flaminio). Villarosa,
however, said that Pergolesi’s last work was the Stabat mater, written for the
noble fraternity in the church of S Maria dei Sette Dolori in Naples as a
replacement for Alessandro Scarlatti’s Stabat mater. Pergolesi, aged 26, died in
Pozzuoli and was buried in the common pit next to the cathedral. The Marquis
Domenico Corigliano di Rignano, who then owned the Stabat mater manuscript
and was a friend of the first Pergolesi biographer, Villarosa, had a memorial tablet
for him set up in the cathedral at Pozzuoli; the inscription on it was by Villarosa. In
September 1890 a side-chapel of the cathedral was prepared as Pergolesi’s burial
chapel and the memorial tablet was transferred there.
Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista
2. Posthumous fame.
Highly romanticized accounts of Pergolesi’s life written in the late 18th and the
19th centuries distorted his career and influence, but he was clearly among the
most successful and respected composers of his generation. He wrote regularly
for the Teatro S Bartolomeo from the moment he left school, his comic works in
minor theatres were enormously popular, he was appointed vicemaestro to the
royal chapel at the age of 22, and was offered the protection and commissions of
Naples’s most important royal families. The almost universal fame he attained
posthumously represented a new phenomenon in music history. Shortly after his
death a collection of four of his cantatas was published: this was the first time that
cantatas had been printed in Naples, and as early as 1738 a second edition
appeared. Queen Maria Amalia of Naples ordered in 1738 that La serva padrona
and Livietta e Tracollo be performed, and added: ‘Questo autore è difonto, ma fu
uomo grande’. President De Brosses called Pergolesi ‘mon auteur d’affection’ as
early as 1739. Pergolesi’s fame was spread by performances of Lo frate
’nnamorato, Il Flaminio, L’olimpiade and his church music, but above all by
travelling troupes of players who took his comedies, particularly La serva padrona,
into their repertory. The work received at least 24 new productions in its first ten
years at places that included Rome, Spoleto, Parma, Milan, Fermo, Graz, Lucca,
Venice, Munich, Dresden, Modena, Siena and Hamburg. Remarkably, and
uncharacteristically for its day (and in contrast to Livietta), La serva padrona
remained largely unaltered in its text throughout its 18th-century performance
history. It was given on 1 August 1752 in Paris, where it had first been heard in
1746. This second series of performances met with a tremendous response (fig.2)
and was the cause of the Querelle des Bouffons, the pamphlet war between the
supporters of traditional French opera and the proponents of Italian opera buffa;
Pergolesi’s name came to symbolize the aesthetics of J.-J. Rousseau and the
‘progressive’ party. Two printings of La serva padrona appeared in Paris in 1752;
these were followed by two editions of a French adaptation under the title La
servante maîtresse by Baurans, and in 1759 by the appearance of The Favourite
Songs in the Burletta La serva padrona in London.
Livietta e Tracollo, the Salve regina and above all the Stabat mater achieved
equally widespread fame. The Stabat mater, first published in London in 1749,
became the most frequently printed single work in the 18th century. It was also
circulated in many adaptations, including one by Bach (as Tilge, Höchster, meine
Sünden). The vogue for Pergolesi caused many works to be wrongly attributed to
him, creating a confusion that has long persisted and is reflected in the early
Opera omnia (1939–42), and corrected in the new Complete Works. Among the
most important misattributions are an intermezzo, Il maestro di musica (based
largely on a work by Auletta), the song Tre giorni son che Nina, sets of trio
sonatas and harpsichord lessons, two flute concertos and six Concerti armonici
(details of these misattributed works are given in the work-list below).
Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista
3. Works.
Pergolesi’s music is among the earliest consistently to reflect the new principles of
an evolving ‘natural’ or ‘galant’ style in the 18th century. Writers such as Mattei
and Manfredini a generation later praised him for his regular and well-developed
motifs, and for his expressive text-setting, although much of this can be traced to
Vinci and other earlier composers. Above all, his music seems spontaneous and
fresh, often with a distinctive Neapolitan character tinged by a popular style,
Spanish motifs and alternately comic, sentimental and heroic gestures. His operas
reflect the social and intellectual upheaval of early 18th-century Naples, the comic
ones (such as Il Flaminio) in particular exploring a new rising and ambitious
middle class.
A collection of Pergolesi’s solfeggi (two- and three-part exercises in melody) is
extant; traces of modality and elements of the doctrine of proportion can be seen
in them. If they represent student work at the conservatory, they are a unique
document of the methods of instruction used there, but they give little indication of
any special talent for composition. Otherwise the earliest extant work by Pergolesi
is the cantata Questo è il piano (Ritorno), dated 24 April 1731. It bears the marks
of an exercise in composition: its two arias, constructed from musical ‘blocks’ of
one and a half to several bars, are exemplary models of the da capo form. S
Guglielmo, his dramma sacro, also gives the impression of being a student work;
one can sense the didactic purpose behind it as well as the instructor’s correcting
hand. The most remarkable parts are the buffo scenes; Pergolesi already used
with great skill and accuracy the gesture-like style of buffo melody which had been
developed by Neapolitan intermezzo composers during the preceding decade.
Pergolesi had the good fortune to be able to apply himself at an unusually early
age to what was then the most important musical genre, the opera seria. All his
opere serie were written under unfavourable circumstances. Salustia has
conservative features not to be found in his later works; this may be connected
with the choice of libretto and with the fact that the intended primo uomo, Nicolini,
was at the end of his career (and died before it was performed). No other of
Pergolesi’s operatic characters has the grandeur and pathos of Marziano,
intended for Nicolini: it is like an echo of the music of the high Baroque era. The
notable influence of the buffo melody in some of the arias is a new and significant
departure for Pergolesi. The style, so disjointed in Salustia, is more polished in Il
prigioniero superbo. Pathos is replaced by sentimentality and gallantry, and formal
accompanying figures become more prominent in the orchestral writing. Because
of the unusual cast there are none of the splendid soprano arias that normally
highlight an opera seria. This makes the opera a strangely colourless work, for
Pergolesi was not yet able to turn the performers’ lack of virtuosity to account so
as to increase the dramatic intensity.
Adriano in Siria is an excellent example of the extent to which the composition of
an opera seria could be influenced by the demands of a single singer. The
alterations to Metastasio’s libretto affected not only the part of Pharnaspes
(composed for Caffarelli) but also the relationship of his arias to those of the other
performers, which in turn affected their number, position and character. Of
Metastasio’s 27 aria texts, only ten were retained: eight were omitted, nine
replaced by different texts; one additional new aria was inserted, making ten new
arias altogether. Caffarelli’s three arias are extended beyond anything else in
Pergolesi’s music up to that date; they are the focal points of the opera. Each of
these expresses a different ‘affection’, but the expression is subordinated to the
need for allowing Caffarelli the opportunity to shine vocally; this is done differently
each time and with new effects. The unusual care and precision which Pergolesi
lavished on the arias of the supporting cast is still more remarkable. In
L’olimpiade, composed for Rome, the special requirements which Pergolesi had to
fulfil were comparatively modest. The fact that in L’olimpiade he used arias from
no opera older than Adriano in Siria might be taken to suggest that he was
conscious of his recent development as an artist. L’olimpiade is characterized by
idyllic and delicate tone-colours, smooth, expressive melodies with reserved
virtuosity, free treatment of the text (for example with verbal repetitions of the kind
used in opera buffa) and a greater intensity of feeling. Pergolesi excelled as a
dramatic composer in his variety of mood, figure and expression.
Of Pergolesi’s two commedie musicali the earlier, Lo frate ’nnamorato, is his first
completely independent work and also the most important extant example of the
genre. It is in Neapolitan dialect, and a local note is prominent in its music.
Folksong-like pieces, seria arias, seria parodies and buffo numbers are
juxtaposed with great assurance. Federico’s text for Il Flaminio is particularly
dependent on the contemporary upheaval in social status under the Spanish
regime; Flaminio, a bourgeois without noble title, aspires to express himself in
aristocratic Italian, though he cannot leave his Neapolitan roots, as his opening
aria ‘Mentre l’erbetta’ (borrowed by Stravinsky for Pulcinella) illustrates. The roles
were performed by commedia dell’arte actors, and the spontaneity, juxtaposition
and stratification of styles in the music surely flows from that influence. Pergolesi’s
music seems to be full of allusions and quotations, only a few of which can be
deciphered. In Il Flaminio, unlike Lo frate ’nnamorato, the parti serie and parti
buffe are clearly differentiated, and what were later to be known as parti caricate
are introduced; using a wide stylistic repertory, Pergolesi endowed these roles
with unusually personal and individual traits.
La serva padrona, the intermezzo to Il prigioniero superbo, is a work of true
genius. Pergolesi’s basic method of portrayal is the gesture-like buffo style, which
he developed to an unsurpassed vitality and effectiveness. Federico's libretto,
exuding in a particularly inventive way the rhythms and inflections of Neapolitan
dialect, provided him not only with effective buffo scenes but also with a plot which
develops logically between credibly drawn characters. It was possible both for the
characters to express themselves naturally within the idiom of the music and for
the music to make clear the characters’ motivation. Mariani’s libretto for Livietta e
Tracollo, the intermezzo to Adriano in Siria, is less unified, but still consistently
implies the dialect of its origin. Pergolesi’s buffo style is still more concentrated
and cryptic than in La serva padrona, but the individual numbers are not part of a
plot which develops in a credible way; instead they appear as single pieces
(including some of a characteristically melancholy and tender tone for Livietta).
In his masses Pergolesi used a style that had recently been developed in Naples,
in which only the Kyrie and the Gloria were set to music on a large scale (fig.3).
The Kyrie is made up of a long ‘Christe’ fugue with concertante elements, framed
by a slow introduction and a broad cadence on the words ‘Kyrie eleison’. The
Gloria is divided into choral, ensemble and solo movements. Pergolesi produced
different versions of his masses in D and F, for one, two and four choruses (there
was still a demand for polychoral music on festive occasions). These are not,
however, genuinely polychoral, for the music, designed for one chorus in five parts
(with double soprano), is merely assigned to several choruses so as to achieve
antiphonal and tutti effects. There is no early evidence for the authenticity of the
Mass in F published under Pergolesi’s name in Vienna in 1805, but it is similar in
style to his known masses. This may be explained by Guglielmo della Valle’s
statement (Memorie storiche del p.m. Giambattista Martini, Naples, 1785) that the
 dukes of Maddaloni held performances of church music each year on the third
Sunday in September in the Neapolitan parish church of S Maria dei Sette Dolori
(where their family had its burial vault), and that Pergolesi composed music for
this occasion which the Maddaloni family had jealously guarded.
Pergolesi’s psalm settings are intended for vespers. They too are on a large scale
and are divided into choral and solo sections, with concertante movements for
soloists and chorus. The solo sections in Pergolesi’s church music are two-
section, aria-like pieces, different from the typical opera and oratorio arias and
apparently derived from the vocal and instrumental concerto movement. Many of
the choral movements, too, betray the same influence, and some of them show
signs of being reduced polychoral settings. Within its stylistic bounds, Pergolesi’s
church music is distinguished by the lively declamation of the text and the melodic
charm of the solo sections, and by the rich contrasts of the choral ones. It may
have influenced the later work of his teacher, Francesco Durante, and of
Leonardo Leo, both of whom survived Pergolesi. The Stabat mater for two solo
voices and strings, his most famous work, was evidently written in competition
with Alessandro Scarlatti’s Stabat mater for the same voices and instruments. A
comparison between the works shows Pergolesi’s new approach to the
concertante vocal movement and his development of the ‘church aria’, as well as
the earliest application to sacred music of the style of expressive sensibility. The
work stirred considerable controversy at home and abroad for its religious
propriety and musical style. Padre Martini’s traditional views towards counterpoint
incited some to criticize Pergolesi’s setting, while others found it ‘galant’,
expressive and new. The same bittersweet tone is present in the Salve regina in C
minor for solo soprano and strings, composed (like the Stabat mater) at the very
end of Pergolesi’s life.
Most of the instrumental music under Pergolesi’s name is wrongly attributed; his
few authentic pieces are insignificant by comparison with his vocal music. The
apparently authentic double harpsichord concerto is among the earliest examples
of the keyboard concerto and demonstrates (along with other early Italian
examples) a parallel development of the genre outside Germany.
Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista
WORKS
Editions:G.B. Pergolesi: Opera omnia, ed. F. Caffarelli (Rome, 1939–42/R) [C][Of
the 148 works in this edition, 69 are misattributed, 49 are questionable and only
30 may be considered genuine. A large number of works attributed to
Pergolesi, some of which may be authentic, were omitted. For further
information see Paymer: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: (1977)]G.B. Pergolesi:
The Complete Works, ed. B.S. Brook and others (New York and Milan, 1986–)
[B]

title genre, acts

Salustia os, 3

libretto :
?S. Morelli, after A. Zeno: Alessandro Severo

first performance :
Naples, S Bartolomeo, Jan 1732
sources, edn; remarks :
I-Mc, Nc; C ix; B i

[Nibbio e Nerina] int, 2

libretto :
?D. Caracajus

first performance :
Naples, S Bartolomeo, Jan 1732

sources, edn; remarks :

perf. with Salustia; music lost; recit in pt 2 set by Caracajus

Lo frate ’nnamorato commedia musicale, 3

libretto :
G.A. Federico

first performance :
Naples, Fiorentini, 27 Sept 1732; rev. Naples, carn. 1734

sources, edn; remarks :

B-Bc, GB-Lbl, I-Mc, Nc; C ii; B vii

[Capetà Cola, Spaviento e Giulietta] introduction, balli

libretto :
Naples, Fiorentini, 27 Sept 1732

first performance :
perf. with Lo frate ’nnamorato; music lost

Il prigioniero superbo os, 3

libretto :
after F. Silvani: La fede tradita e vendicata

first performance :
Naples, S Bartolomeo, 5 Sept 1733
sources, edn; remarks :
Nc; C xx; B ii

La serva padrona [characters: Serpina, Umberto] int, 2

libretto :
Federico

first performance :
Naples, S Bartolomeo, 5 Sept 1733

sources, edn; remarks :

perf. with Il prigioniero superbo; A-Wgm, Wn, B-Bc, Br, D-Dlb, W, F-Pn, I-Bc, BGc,
Fc, Gl, Mc, Nc, PAc, PESc, Rsc, Tf, Vc; C xi/1, sinfonia spurious, probably Viennese;
Bv

Adriano in Siria os, 3

libretto :
P. Metastasio

first performance :
Naples, S Bartolomeo, 25 Oct 1734

sources, edn; remarks :

GB-Lbl, I-Nc; C xiv; B iii

[Livietta e Tracollo/La contadina astuta] int, 2

libretto :
T. Mariani

first performance :
Naples, S Bartolomeo, 25 Oct 1734

sources, edn; remarks :

perf. with Adriano in Siria; B-Bc, Br, GB-Lbl, I-Bc, Fc, Mc, Nc, PESc, Rsc, Tf; C xi/3;
B vi

L’olimpiade os, 3

libretto :
Metastasio
first performance :
Rome, Tordinona, ? 2 Jan 1735

sources, edn; remarks :

A-Wn, B-Bc, Br, D-Dlb, F-Pn, I-BGc, Mc, MOe, Nc, Rsc, C xxiv; B iv

Il Flaminio commedia musicale, 3

libretto :
Federico

first performance :
Naples, Nuovo, aut. 1735

sources, edn; remarks :

B-Bc, I-Nc [Act 3*]; C xii; B viii

Works based on or related to Livietta e Tracollo: Il ladro finto

pazzo, Milan, Regio, 1739; Il finto pazzo (addns C. Goldoni),
Venice, S Samuele, May 1741, addl arias by P. Chiarini, rev.
Goldoni and Chiarini as Amor fa l’uomo cieco, Venice, 1742; Il
Tracollo, Venice, S Moisè, aut. 1744; Livietta, Venice, S Moisè,
carn. 1746; La finta polacca, Rome, 2 Feb 1748; Il ladro
convertito per amore, Venice, 1750; Tracollo, medico ignorante,
Paris, 1753; Le charlatan
Spurious works: Ricimero, 1732 [probably an alternative title for
Il prigioniero superbo]; Il geloso schernito, C iii [probably
pasticcio by P. Chiarini, sinfonia by B. Galuppi]; La contadina
astuta [characters: Tabarano, Scintilla], C xi/2 [pasticcio (B.
Saddumene) based on 2 ints by J.A. Hasse: La contadina and Il
tutore, and 1 duet from Pergolesi’s Il Flaminio; also known as Il
Tabarano]; Il maestro di musica, Paris, Opéra, 19 Sept 1752, C
xxv [pasticcio based largely on P. Auletta: Orazio, but incl. 2
authentic arias – ‘Son timida fanciulla’, C xxv, 67, and ‘Non vo’
più dargli ascotto’, C xxv, 45, and 1 authentic duet – ‘Venite,
deh siate gentile’, C xxv, 51; also perf. as Le maître de
musique, Paris, Comédie-Italienne (Bourgogne), 31 May 1755]
sacred dramas and oratorios
Li prodigi della divina grazia nella conversione di S Guglielmo Duca d’Aquitania (dramma
sacro, 3, I. Mancini), Naples, monastery of S Agnello Maggiore, sum. 1731, C iv, B ix
La fenice sul rogo, ovvero La morte di S Giuseppe (orat, 2), ? Naples, Oratorio dei Filippini,
1731, C i, B x
Spurious: Septem verba a Christo in cruce moriente prolatae (orat), CH-Zz, vs ed. H.
Scherchen as Die sieben Worte des Erlösers (Vienna, 1952); Planctus animo poenitentis ad
matrem dolorosam (orat), GB-Lbl; Oratorio della Passione; La morte d’Abel (orat), CH-Zz; Il
pentimento, GB-Lbl, Lcm; La nascita del Redentore (orat), lost, said by Villarosa, probably
mistakenly, to be in I-Nf
liturgical
Mass [Ky–Gl] (D): version 1, S, A, SSATB, orch, ? sum. 1731, C xv/2, B xi; version 2,
SSATB, SSATB, 2 orch; version 3, S, A, SSATB, orch, incl. Qui tollis, Quoniam, from Mass
in F of 1734 and arr. of Cum Sancto spiritu from Sicut erat; other arrs. not authentic
Mass [Ky–Gl] (F): version 1, S, A, SSATB, orch, ? perf. Naples, S Maria della Stella, 31 Dec
1732, ? perf. Rome, S Lorenzo in Lucina, 16 May 1734, C xviii, B xii; version 2, SSATB,
SSATB, 2 orch, C vi; version 3, solo vv, SSATB, SSATB, SSATB, SSATB, 2 orch; version 4,
new version of Ky
Confitebor, ps, solo vv, SSATB, orch, ? perf. Naples, S Maria della Stella, 31 Dec 1732, C
viii, B xiii
Deus in adjutorium (Domine ad adjuvandum me), int, S, SSATB, orch, ? perf. Naples, S
Maria della Stella, 31 Dec 1732, C xvii/1, B xiii
Dixit Dominus, ps (D), S, A, SSATB, SSATB, orch, ? perf. Naples, S Maria della Stella, 31
Dec 1732, C viii, B xiii
In coelestibus regnis, ant, A, str, org, C xvii/1, B xiii
In hac die quam decora, motet, S, A, T, B, SSA, TTB, 2 orch, C xvii/1 (inc.), B xv
Laudate pueri, ps, S, SSATB, orch, late work, C viii, B xiii; authentic except for alternative
version of Quis sicut Dominus, C xiii, 252
Salve regina, ant, (a), S, str, org, C xv/1, B xv
Salve regina, ant, (c), S, str, org; composed at Pozzuoli, 1736, C xv/1, B xv
Stabat mater, seq, (f), S, A, str, org; composed at Pozzuoli, 1736, C xxvi, B xiv
Doubtful: Aura sacratis amoris, S, orch, B-Bg; Conturbat mentem, S, orch, D-Bsb,W; De

placido torrente, B-Bg; Deus misereator nostri; Dixit Dominus, ps (B ), SATB, orch, D-MÜs;
Dixit Dominus, ps (D), C viii; Ecce pietatis signa, S, orch, I-Mc; Ecce superbos hostes, S,
orch, B-Bg; In campo armato pugno, S, orch, D-Bsb; Laetatus sum, C viii; La Maddalena al

sepolcro, S, I-Ac; Miserere mei (a), D-SWl; Miserere mei (B ), formerly Königsberg;
Miserere mei (C); Miserere mei (d), GB-Lbl; Miserere mei (F), F-Pn; Miserere mei (g), B-Bc,
F-Pn, GB-Lbl; O salutaris hostia, T, B, bc, Lbl; Peccator crudelis, I-Vnm; Salve regina (f), C
xv/1; Sequentia olim tempore missae septem dolorum, D-LÜh; Sol resplendet, GB-Ob; Te
ergo quaesimus, S, T, hpd, I-Rsc; Tuba et timpano, S, orch, B-Bg; Utique resonando, I-Nf
Spurious: Mass [Ky–Gl] (F) (Vienna, 1805); Missa Pergolesiana [Messa estense] (D), C xxiii;
Missa solemnis [Messa solenne] (C), C xxiii; Requiem, C xvi; Credo (C), Incarnatus (G),
Sanctus (a), Sanctus (d), Agnus Dei (G), Agnus Dei (b), inc.: all C xxiii; Credo (D), SATB, str,
org, C xix suppl.; Agnus Dei (b), ed. R.F. Goldman (New York, 1949); Adoro te devote, C
xvii/1; Ave verum, C xvii/1; Beatus vir, C viii; Dies irae, parody of Stabat mater, C xxvi; Dixit
Dominus (C), by L. Leo, C viii; Dorme, benigne Jesu, by F. Durante, C xvii/1; Mag, by
Durante, C xvii/1; Miserere (c), 2 settings, C xiii; O sacrum convivium, C xvii/1; Pro Jesu
dum vivo, C xvii/1; Quis sicut Dominus, C viii; Salve regina (c), C xv/1; Sanctum et terribile,
C viii; Siste superba fragor, C xvii/1; Super flumina, C xvii/2; Vexilla regis, C xvii/1
chamber cantatas and duets
4 cantate da camera … di G.B. Pergolesi, raccolte di Gioacchino Bruno, op.2 (Naples, after
1736): Chi non ode e chi non vede (Segreto tormento), S, str, bc; Dalsigre, ahi mia Dalsigre
(Lontananza), S, bc, in GB-Lbl as Nigella, ah mia Nigella; Luce degli occhi miei (L’addio), S,
str, bc; Nel chiuso centro (Orfeo), S, str, bc, before aut. 1735; all ed. in C x, B xvi
Cants.: Della città vicino, S, str, bc, D-MÜs; Questo è il piano, questo è il rio (Ritorno), A, str,
bc, 24 April 1731, C xxii, B xvi
Cants. (doubtful): A te torna il tuo Fileno, S, str; Berenice che fai; Che farò, che; Clori se mai
rivolgi (Il canto del pastore), C x; Contrasti crudeli; Ecco, Tirsi, quel mirto (Proposta) – Or
responderti debbo (Risposta), C x; In queste spiagge amene (Amor fedele), C x; L’aura, il
ruscello, il fonte; Ove tu, ben mio, non sei, S, str; Quest’è amor, quest’è fede, MÜs
Cant. (spurious): Cor prigioniero, C xxii
Duets (spurious): Deh t’accheta, C xix, by G. Sellitto; Io mi rido; Mo che te stregno, C xix,
suppl.; Se mi lasci, o mio contento, C xix, by G.M. Orlandini; Tu non rispondi, C xix, by G.A.
Giai; Tu resterai mia cara, C xix; Tu vuoi ch’io viva, C xix, by D. Terradellas; Una povera
fanciulla, C xix, by ?Orlandini
arias
 spurious unless otherwise stated
Ah, che sento in mezzo al core, C xxii; Ahi, che soffersi o Dio, C xxii; Ah mi dividon l’anima,
C xix, also attrib. G. Chinzer; Amerò finchè il mio core, C xxii; Basta così t’intendo, C xix, by
R. di Capua; Ben che s’ascondono, doubtful, B-Bc; Bendato pargoletto, C xxii; Cara tu ridi, C
xxii; Chi non crede, C xxii, by B. Galuppi; Chi tento, doubtful, GB-Lcm; Confusa, smarrita, C
xix, by L. Vinci; Con quel volto sì vezzoso, doubtful, Lbl; Dio s’offende, e l’uom ne giace,
doubtful; È pur ver, C xxii, by A.M. Bononcini; Empio amor, amor tiranno, C xxii, doubtful; Il
mio cor innamorato, doubtful, B-Bc; Immagini dolenti, C xix, by G. Scarlatti; Ingrata non sarò,
C xxii; Io non so dove mi sto, C xxii, by L. Leo
L’amato mio sposo, ed. in Il teatro illustrato, no.126 (Milan); La ragion, gli affetti, doubtful,
GB-Lbl; Le luci vezzose del caro mio bene, doubtful; Le souhaît, doubtful; Madre, e tu,
inquista sposa, doubtful; Misero me, qual gelido tormento, acc. recit, C xix; Nacqui agli
affanni in seno, doubtful; Non mi negar, ed. A. Parisotti, Arie antiche (Milan, 1930); Non mi
tradir mai più, C xxii, by A. Scarlatti; Non so d’onde, C xix; Non ti minaccio sdegno, C xix;
Non ti son padre, doubtful, Lbl; Partò, qual pastorello, doubtful, B-Bc; Pellegrino ch’infolto
orror, doubtful; Pensa bene, mi dicesti, C xxii; Pensa, se avrò, mia cara, C xxii; Per esser più
vezzose, C xxii; Per fuggirti io peno avrò, doubtful; Piangerò tanto, C xxii; Qual dolente
pastorello, C xxii, by G. Lampugnani; Quant’inganni insegna amore, C xxii
Saggio nocchiero, doubtful, Bc; Se al labro mio non credi, ed. in Aus dem goldenen Zeitalter
des Belcanto, ii (Mainz); Se amor ti compose, C xxii, by F. Arresti; Sentir d’un vago oggetto,
C xxii; Sentirsi il petto accendere, C xxii, by Lampugnani; Se per te viva io sono, C xxii, by
A.M. Bononcini; Se tu m’ami, C xxii, by A. Parisotti; Serbi l’intatta fede, C xix; Si cangia in un
momento, C xxii; So ch’è fanciullo amore, C xix; Talor se il vento freme, C xix, by
Terradellas; Tergi quel pianto, o cara, doubtful, Bc; Tra fronda e fronda, doubtful; Tre giorni
son che Nina, C xxii, ? by V.L. Ciampi; Tremende oscure atroci, doubtful, Bc; Un caro e
dolce sguardo, doubtful; Un ciglio che sa piangere, C xxii; Vado a morir ben mio, doubtful;
Vanne a seguire (Ingrato core), C xxii, by A.M. Bononcini; Va tra le selve ircane, C xix;
Vorrei poter almeno, C xxii
other vocal
42 solfeggi, 2vv; 64 solfeggi, 3vv; solfeggio, hpd acc.: all in B xviii
Venerabilis barba cappucinorum, Scherzo fatto ai Cappuccini di Possuoli, T, B, 1735, B xviii
Doubtful: Per voi mi struggo in pianto, canon, 3vv, C xxii
instrumental
Conc. (B ), solo vn, 2 vn, va, bc, C xxi; Conc. (C), 2 hpd, 2 vn, va, b; Sonata (F), org, C xxi;
Sinfonia (F), vc, bc, C xxi; Sonata (G), vn, bc, movt 2 as Sonata (A), hpd, C xxi: all in B xvii

Doubtful: Piccola sinfonia (E ), 2 vn, va, b, I-Rsc; Simphonia (B ), 2 vn, va, vc, US-R;
Simphonia (F), 2 vn, va, vc, R; Sinfonia [di apertura] (G), 2 vn, va, bc, hns, C xix; Symphonia

(D), 2 vn, va, b, CZ-Pnm; Trio (B ), 2 vn, bc, I-Nc, attrib. ‘Pergola’
Extremely doubtful: 2 concs. (D, G), fl, 2 vn, bc, C xxi; Conc. a 5 (F), 3 vn, va, b, hns, org, C
xxi; Simphonia (C), 2 vn, va, tpts, timp, US-CA; Sinfonia (D), 2 vn, va, b, hns, S-SK, L;
Sinfonia [d’apertura] (D), 2 vn, va, b, fls, obs, tpts, timp, C xix; Sonatas nos.2 (C), 4 (G), 5

(C), 6 (B ), hpd, C xxi; Sonata a 3 nos.13 (g), 14 (C), 2 vn, bc, C v

Spurious: 6 concerti armonici, concertinos, 4 vn, va, bc (The Hague, 1740), by U.W. van
Wassenaer, C vii; 8 Lessons, hpd (London, 1771), no.2 in C xxi, nos.1, 5 by G.B. Martini; A
Second Set of 8 Lessons, hpd (London, 1778), nos.2, 7 in C xxi; Propter magnam (G), org

(London, 1831); Sinfonia (B ), 2 vn, va, b, L, by J.G. Graun; Sonata (G), hpd, C xxi, ? by D.

Alberti; 12 Sonatas a 3, 2 vn, b (London, 1771), by D. Gallo, C v; Trio (B ), 2 vn, b, Skma,

by F. Ruge; Trio (F), 2 vn, b, Skma, Uu
Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista
BIBLIOGRAPHY
source studies, catalogues, research
F. Walker: ‘Two Centuries of Pergolesi Forgeries and Misattributions’,ML, xxx
(1949), 297–320
F. Degrada: ‘Alcuni falsi autografi pergolesiani’, RIM, i (1966), 32–48
M.E. Paymer: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: a Thematic Catalogue of the Opera
Omnia with an Appendix Listing Omitted Compositions (New York, 1977)
H. Hucke: ‘Pergolesi: Probleme eines Werkverzeichnisses’, AcM, lii (1980), 195–
224
B. Brook and M.E.Paymer: ‘The Pergolesi Hand: a Calligraphic Study’, Notes,
xxxviii (1981–2), 550–78
Studi pergolesiani I: Iesi 1983
Pergolesi (Naples, 1986)
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B.S. Brook: ‘Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella”: the “Pergolesi” Sources’, Musiques, signes,
images: liber amicorum François Lesure, ed. J.-M. Fauquet (Geneva, 1988),
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pratica: Ascona 1992
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vita di Gio. Battista Pergolese, celebre compositore di musica (Naples, 1831,
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(1942)
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(1964), 133–42
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(1965), 13–43
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NZM, Jg.147 (1986), no.2, pp.4–7
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musicale Curci, xxxix/2 (1986), 17–19
operas and cantatas
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nouvelle pièce intitulée La servante maîtresse (Paris,1754)
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Contemporaries (diss., Columbia U., 1982)
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mater von Pergolesi in Deutschland bis 1820’, Mf, xliii (1990), 1–15