Stabat Mater (novel)

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Stabat Mater (Italian. Original title Stabat Mater ) is a historical novel by the Italian writer Tiziano Scarpa (* 1963 in Venice ), which was published in 2008 by the Einaudi publishing house in Turin. The German translation by Olaf Matthias Roth was published a year later by Klaus Wagenbach Verlag in Berlin ( ISBN 3803132258 ). The title refers to a famous sacred work by Antonio Vivaldi ( RV 621), a setting of the medieval poem Stabat mater dolorosa .

content

The novel is set in 18th century Venice and tells the story of the girl Cecilia, who grows up in the Ospedale della Pietà , a convent and orphanage that also runs a music school. Mothers who want to remain unrecognized (e.g. due to illegitimate pregnancies) have the option of leaving their newborn children anonymously in the ospedale (similar to today's baby hatches ). Cecilia's mother also once left her daughter in the care of the clergy at the Ospedale after the birth. Cecilia grows up, receives music lessons and plays the violin in the orchestra of the orphanage. As an adolescent, Cecilia began to ask questions about her mother, her origins and her identity. Restless and plagued by insomnia, she roams the monastery at night and writes letters to her unknown mother, who she never sends, but hides in the monastery. One day a nun from the convent shows Cecilia the objects that her mother left with her at the Ospedale. Sometimes, after years, children are picked up by their parents in the monastery, the objects that were once left behind (amulets, coins, etc.) serve as identification marks. For Cecilia, a sheet of paper, torn diagonally, serves as a sign of identification, showing half of a compass rose in the colors blue and green with the cardinal points north and west.

When one day the elderly music teacher at the Ospedale, Don Giulio, gave up his work for reasons of age, a young, red-haired priest with a big nose followed him: Don Antonio, who was easy to recognize as the composer Antonio Vivaldi . Under his musical direction, the choir and orchestra of the Ospedale continue to gain reputation beyond the borders of Venice. Don Antonio recognizes Cecilia's special musical talent and would like to bind her permanently to the Ospedale orchestra. But this would mean that Cecilia will continue to stay there and renounce a normal life as an adult woman. She could then only rarely and always leave the Ospedale with other pupils, under the supervision of the clergy and with her face hidden behind a mask. Cecilia decides against this perspective and flees the ospedale: Disguised as a man, at the end of the novel she sails to the southeast, to the Greek islands, where she hopes to find her mother, but also herself.

analysis

The novel describes the plot mainly from the perspective of its protagonist: in the letters that Cecilia writes to her unknown mother, but never sent, as well as in the conversations with a woman's head with snake hair, reminiscent of the head of Medusa , who appears to her at night her everyday life at the Ospedale. But this always manifests her longing and search for her mother. This search is also a search for yourself and for your own identity as a girl and young woman. In addition to the letters and the conversations with the head of Medusa, some of Cecilia's conversations with other people in the novel are reproduced, which she presents directly from the perspective of a neutral narrator. The novel makes use of a historicizing language (which is expressed, for example, in the use of the pluralis majestatis ), which, in individual spontaneous and informal utterances by Cecilia, but also has contemporary features. Although it is a historical novel, the author waives strict historical accuracy. For example, individual compositions by Vivaldi that appear in the plot (such as The Four Seasons ) were only created in later creative periods. The book is characterized by a rich color metaphor (e.g. red as the color of blood, Vivaldi's hair color, etc.) as well as a multitude of cultural-historical allusions. For example, the title refers to one of Vivaldi's sacred works, but also to the central theme of the search for a mother. The name of the protagonist is also not chosen by chance, but refers to St. Cecilia of Rome , the patron saint of church music .

reception

The novel was awarded the Premio Strega , the most important Italian literary prize, and the Premio SuperMondello in 2009. In the run-up to the award of the Premio Strega, a debate took place in the Italian features section about the power of publishers in awarding literary prizes and the quality of the nominated books.

expenditure

Reviews

  • Maike Albath : Music is made of women . Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 31, 2009
  • Franz Haas: Pathetic mask play in Italy . Neue Zürcher Zeitung, October 28, 2009

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Review by Perlentaucher