Il martirio di Santa Cecilia

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Work data
Title: Il martirio di Santa Cecilia
Title page of the libretto, Rome 1708

Title page of the libretto, Rome 1708

Shape: Oratorio in two parts
Original language: Italian
Music: Alessandro Scarlatti
Libretto : Pietro Ottoboni
Premiere: March 1708
Place of premiere: Palazzo della Cancelleria , Rome
Playing time: approx. 1 ¾ hours
Place and time of the action: Rome, around 230
people
  • Santa Cecilia, Saint Cecilia of Rome ( soprano , castrato)
  • Nutrice di S. Cecilia, her wet nurse ( old , neutered)
  • Almachio, Prefect of Rome (Alt, Castrato)
  • Consigliere d'Almachio, Counselor Almachios ( tenor )

Il martirio di Santa Cecilia (German: "The Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia") is an oratorio in two parts by Alessandro Scarlatti with an Italian libretto by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni . It premiered in March 1708 in the Roman Palazzo della Cancelleria .

action

The oratorio is about Saint Cecilia of Rome , who is to be executed as a Christian during the reign of the Roman emperor Severus Alexander . The prefect Almachio is appointed as judge. Since he loves her, he leaves no stone unturned to save her. His adviser and Cecilia's wet nurse work in the same direction. Cecilia, however, cannot be dissuaded from her uncompromising attitude. Her whole life is shaped by her faith. She refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods and did not marry her also converted bridegroom Valerian. Instead, she sees her real bridegroom in Christ and longs for death in order to arrive at it. After learning of the prefect's weakness, the emperor personally sentenced her to death by decree. However, the executioner fails to separate her head from the torso with his sword. Cecilia dies in prayer. Almachio goes mad over it. The other two, however, recognize the power of the Christian faith.

First part

Almachio complains about his inner conflict, as he has to condemn Cecilia despite his love (Aria Almachio: “A dispetto del mio core”). He asks his advisor to speak to her conscience again. The counselor gives him hope that she will give up her stubbornness. The people, too, would accept benevolently a gracious judgment made possible by this (Arie Consigliere: “E del sol pregio”).

The wet nurse urges Cecilia to give in to save her life and her honor (Arie Nutrice: “Tu dai nome di costanza”). She should be reconciled with the gods she reviled. Cecilia contradicts and tries for her part to convert the wet nurse to Christianity (Aria Cecilia: "Questo solo e quell'ardore"). The nurse refers to Cecilia's bridegroom, who is also to be executed because of her. Cecilia, however, almost longs for death. She regards Jesus as her real bridegroom (Aria Cecilia: "Esca pura del foco mio"). The nurse realizes that she cannot do anything. She now hopes that Almachio will show grace out of love for Cecilia (Arie Nutrice: “La primavera”). The arrival of his advisor is therefore very convenient for her. He, too, hopes for a change of heart of Cecilia (Arie Consigliere: “Finche giova il pentimento”). The nurse tells him about her failures. Both hope that Almachio will be able to convince her of his love through kindness so that she will follow his advice (Duett Nutrice, Consigliere: “Il cielo, l'impero”).

Almachio informs Cecilia of the execution of her bridegroom and his brother Tiburtius, who, to the annoyance of the lictors, had refused to renounce their Christian faith to the last. Cecilia does not react with horror, but with admiration for the two of them. She asks Almachio to kill her too (Arie Cecilia: “Quanto invidio”). Almachio throws himself at her feet, declares his adoration and begs her to save her soul. Cecilia promises him consolation. To do this, however, he must change himself, because a better life only comes after death and can only be achieved through faith in Christ. Almachio loses hope. He sees her inevitable death as a punishment for his aberration in love (Aria Almachio: "Odo il Lazio, odo le sfere").

Cecilia prays for the strength to be steadfast. She wants to become invincible through her faith (Arie Cecilia: "Spiegheran, co'fiere artigli"). She asks her nurse to leave her alone in order to save herself (Duett Nutrice, Cecilia: "Ecco, io parto").

Second part

Saint Cecilia. Engraving by CMF Dien, 1827, after Giulio Romano

Almachio vacillates between love and contempt for Cecilia (Aria Almachio: "Combattuto questo core"). When the counselor tells him of her unchanged steadfastness, he decides to make an example of her to deter imitators. The counselor suggests, however, that Christians are not doing any real harm to Rome and that it is better to fight external enemies than to be excessively severe. There is nothing against worshiping this new deity in addition to the other Latin gods (Arie Consigliere: “La prudenza, che siede al governo”).

The tied Cecilia is led to Almachio. The seemingly gracious and lets her loosen the bonds. He thinks that if she would give in to his courtship and marry him, he might one day convert to Christianity himself. As long as she could continue to practice her faith secretly. He will not persecute the Christians either. Cecilia refuses because she does not want to deny her belief. Almachio not only fears her death, but also his own feelings about it (duet Almachio, Cecilia: “Non e solo il tuo mal ch'io pavento”). He hopes that the nurse, who has just returned, can still achieve something (Arie Almachio: “Speranza, un impossible”). Cecilia is now in a hurry to return to her house, where she is safe from Almachio's urging (Aria Cecilia: “Voli il mio pie”). The nurse is desperate (Arie Nutrice: "Degl'astri in vendetta").

The counselor worries about Almachio in conversation with the executioner who has since arrived. Domitius, an "evil adviser" to the "just" Emperor Severus Alexander, has accused Almachio of protecting Cecilia and the Christians. This now no longer has any influence on the event (Aria Consigliere: "Erra l'huomo allor").

The counselor gives Cecilia a decree from the emperor in which he personally pronounces the death sentence on her. While Cecilia strengthens her faith in prayer, the nurse tries one last time in vain to get her to give in (Arioso Cecilia, Nutrice: "Sommo Padre, eterno Figlio"). After the executioner struck, Cecilia's blood stains the ground red. But she is still alive, tells the executioner to strike again, and prays to Jesus. The executioner makes several unsuccessful attempts before he flees in horror. Cecilia slowly bleeds to death in prayer (Accompagnato recitative Cecilia, Nutrice: "O felice terreno").

While Almachio is waiting for news about Cecilia, he suffers deeply from his conflict of conscience (Aria Almachio: “Più che bramo trovar pace”). He feels guilty about her death. The guide compares Cecilia's steadfastness with a ship in a storm (Aria Consigliere: "Ella sembra qual nave tra l'onde").

The wet nurse shows the men the executioner's sword soaked in blood and tells them about Cecilia's unsuccessful execution: Her wounds had such a sheen that the executioner dropped his sword and fled. Almachio goes mad. In a vision he sees the shameful fall of Rome and its successor Byzantium in front of him (Aria Almachio: "Vi mostrate agl'occhi miei"). Counselor and nurse, however, now recognize the power of Cecilia's faith. You now feel drawn to Christianity yourself (Duett Nutrice, Consigliere: “Sento nel core”).

layout

As was customary at the time, the plot develops primarily in the long recitatives that lead to arias or duets. The oratorio does not contain any choirs. In addition to the two main characters Cecilia and Almachio, there are two nameless advisors who are reasonably looking for a way out to save Cecilia.

The instrumentation of the oratorio consists of a flute , two trumpets , strings (without violas) and basso continuo .

Music numbers

The oratorio contains the following musical numbers:

First part

  • I. Introduction
  • II. Aria (Almachio): "A dispetto del mio core"
    • Recitative (Almachio, Consigliere): "Vanne, o tu de miei imperi"
  • III. Aria (Consigliere): "E del sol pregio"
    • Recitative (Nutrice): "Cecilia, amata figlia"
  • IV. Aria (Nutrice): "Tu dai nome di costanza"
    • Recitative (Cecilia, Nutrice): "Nutrice, e qual 'errore"
  • V. Aria (Cecilia): "Questo solo e quell'ardore"
    • Recitative (Nutrice, Cecilia): "Quanto hai l'alma confusa"
  • VI. Aria (Cecilia): "Esca pura del foco mio"
    • Recitative (Nutrice): "Ove incauta fanciulla"
  • VII. Aria (Nutrice): "La primavera"
    • Recitative (Nutrice, Consigliere): "Opportuno qui giunge"
  • VIII. Aria (Consigliere): "Finche giova il pentimento"
    • Recitative (Nutrice, Consigliere): "Qual'immobile scoglio"
  • IX. Duet (Nutrice, Consigliere): "Il cielo, l'impero"
  • X. [Sinfonia]
    • Recitative (Almachio): "Donna superba, e cruda"
  • XI. Aria (Cecilia): "Quanto invidio"
    • Recitative (Almachio, Cecilia): "Se immobile pur resti alma di scoglio"
  • XII. Aria (Almachio): "Odo il Lazio, odo le sfere"
  • Accompagnato recitative (Cecilia): "Mio Redentor, mia speme"
  • XIII. Aria (Cecilia): "Spiegheran, co'fiere artigli"
    • Recitative (Nutrice, Cecilia): "Sconsigliata, a che resti in queste soglie"
  • XIV. Duet (Nutrice, Cecilia): "Ecco, io parto"

Second part

  • XV. Aria (Almachio): "Combattuto questo core"
    • Recitative (Almachio): "Salva e Cecilia"
  • XVI. Aria (Consigliere): "La prudenza, che siede al governo"
    • Recitative (Almachio, Cecilia): "Cecilia viene"
  • XVII. Duet (Almachio, Cecilia): "Non e solo il tuo mal ch'io pavento"
    • Recitative (Almachio): "Giunge la tua nutrice"
  • XVIII. Aria (Almachio): "Speranza, un impossible"
    • Recitative (Cecilia, Nutrice): "Nutrice, andiamo"
  • XIX. Aria (Cecilia): "Voli il mio pie"
    • Recitative (Nutrice): "Come rapide corre al suo destino?"
  • XX. Aria (Nutrice): "Degl'astri in vendetta"
    • Recitative (Consigliere): "Fortunato regnar, felice Mondo"
  • XXI. Aria (Consigliere): "Erra l'huomo allor"
    • Recitative (Consigliere): "Cecilia frettolosa"
  • XXII. Arioso (Cecilia, Nutrice): "Sommo Padre, eterno Figlio"
    • Recitative (Nutrice): "Ohime, che miro!"
    • Accompagnato recitative (Cecilia, Nutrice): "O felice terreno"
  • XXIII. Aria (Almachio): "Più che bramo trovar pace"
    • Recitative (Almachio, Consigliere): "Di Cesare il volere"
  • XXIV. Aria (Consigliere): "Ella sembra qual nave tra l'onde"
    • Recitative (Nutrice): “O ferro! o sangue! "
  • XXV. Aria (Almachio): "Vi mostrate agl'occhi miei"
    • Recitative (Consigliere, Nutrice): "Custoditelo, o servi"
  • XXVI. Duet (Nutrice, Consigliere): "Sento nel core"

Work history

After his arrival in Rome in 1703, the Neapolitan composer Alessandro Scarlatti received several commissions from Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni . These were various oratorios with gloomy themes such as Sedecia, re di Gerusalemme (1705), Oratorio per la passione di Nostro Signore Gesù Christo (1706) or Cain ovvero Il primo omicidio (1707). The conclusion of this series was Il martirio di Santa Cecilia, whose bloody final scenes the musicologist Karl Böhmer described as “a 'show down' without equal, a high point of the baroque oratorio par excellence”. The libretto for this work comes from the cardinal himself. The text contains some explicit scenic instructions, and there is a reference to a stage machine in the score manuscript. Therefore the work seems like a hybrid of a concert oratorio and a theatrical stage work. Scarlatti composed two different versions for the wet nurse's aria “La primavera” (one for strings, the other with oboe) and the final duet (one fast and one calm).

The oratorio was premiered during Lent in early March 1708 in Rome in the Palazzo della Cancelleria , the seat of the cardinal. It was part of a larger oratorio season on the occasion of Pope Clement XI. "Giubileo" proclaimed for Lazio and Rome, a special holy year . The conclusion on Easter Sunday (April 8th) was the world premiere of the oratorio La Resurrezione by the young George Frideric Handel , who was also present at the performance of Scarlatti's oratorio (he also used scenic elements in his later London oratorios). Since women were not allowed to appear on stage in Rome at that time, all roles were sung by men. The role of Cecilia is intended for a young castrato soprano. Maybe she sang Francesco Besci. The male main role probably took over the old castrato Pasqualino Beni.

On November 22nd of the same year, the day of St. Cecilia of Rome (patron saint of musicians), Ottoboni had Scarlatti's work performed again in the oratorio of St. Filippo Neri . There was another performance in the holy year 1725. The title role was now sung by the castrato Farfallino . Giambattista Costanzi, the cardinal's house composer, composed new arias for him, which can be found in the appendix to the manuscript.

The libretto has been preserved in several versions. The score, however, was considered lost for a long time. Lino Bianchi, editor of an unfinished complete edition of Scarlatti's oratorios, lamented their loss, as did Scarlatti's biographer Edward Dent . It was not until 1985 that the Martin Bodmer Foundation's manuscript library in Cologny near Geneva published a description of the work in its catalog. It turned out that the autograph manuscript had been an unnoticed part of this collection for decades. Like many other scores by Scarlatti, this one was also sold to England in 1742 after the death of Cardinal Ottoboni. There they came into the hands of Handel's librettist Charles Jennens . The Cecilia manuscript then survived unnoticed in English collections until Martin Bodmer bought it at Sotheby’s in 1949 .

In 1989 the oratorio was presented to the public for the first time in recent times in Geneva under the direction of the Scarlatti specialist Hans Jörg Jans. In 2000 it was played in Zurich, where at an exhibition in the Bodmer Collection Scarlatti's autograph manuscript was presented to the public. In the same year, a studio recording with the interpreters of the Zurich performance was released on CD, and Karl Böhmer published the first edition of the score on O + M Musikedition Mainz.

There were further performances in October 2001 in Ambronay and Avignon with the ensemble “Il Seminario Musicale” under Gérard Lesne and the soloists Maria-Soledad Cardoso (Cecilia), Stephanie d'Oustrac (Nutrice), Gerard Lesne (Almachio) and Jean-François Novelli (Consigliere). The ensemble “Parnassi musici” under Martin Lutz played the oratorio in April 2008 in the Augustinerkirche Mainz and in November 2009 in the Christophoruskirche Wiesbaden. Diego Fasolis performed it with I Barocchisti in September 2009 in Foligno, Italy .

Recordings

Web links

Commons : Il martirio di Santa Cecilia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Karl Böhmer: Alessandro Scarlatti - Il martirio di S. Cecilia. In: Supplement to CD cpo 777 258-2, pp. 9–12.
  2. ↑ a b c d work information from Schott Music , accessed on December 20, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b Supplement to CD cpo 777 258-2.
  4. ↑ Program of the performance in Avignon on October 18, 2001, with libretto (Italian / French; PDF) ( Memento of July 23, 2018 in the Internet Archive ).