Stations of the Cross: Pergolesi Stabat Mater dolorosa

portrait of Scarlatti in the Naples Conservatory, attr. to Domenico Antonio Vaccaro (1678-1745)

On Good Friday, April 3, 2026 at 6:30 pm, sopranos Carrie Prewitt and Esther Gray will sing Stabat Mater dolorosa by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736) as part of our Stations of the Cross devotion and meditation, accompanied by organist and director of music Jeffrey Hoffman at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 309 E. Baltimore St., Jackson, TN. Pergolesi was a pre-eminent composer of the Italian Baroque period, particularly of the Neopolitan School, and his Stabat Mater is a masterpiece of the sacred vocal repertoire. Scored for a soprano and mezzo-soprano, the work explores the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary as she witnesses Jesus’ trial and crufixion through the traditional 13th century text Stabat Mater dolorosa (At the cross, her station keeping). Prewitt and Gray will also sing songs by Ned Rorem (1923-2022) and Charles Callahan (1951–2023) centered on the themes of Calvary and the Blessed Mother at the Cross of Jesus while each of the traditional fourteen stations of the cross are observed by the worshippers.