Madonna Mia!
Rome, 17th century. A city of splendour, devotion, and restless creativity. Enter Christina of Sweden: a queen without a kingdom, who trades her throne for a new realm—the arts. Her salons become a meeting place for poets, painters, and musicians; her influence shapes an entire generation.
Practical information
- Composers
- Melani · Stradella · Scarlatti · Carissimi · Pasquini
- Instrumentation
- SSATB and continuo (organ)
- Duration
- Around 60 min; can be adjusted.
- Tuning
- A=440 Hz, quarter-comma meantone
- Requirements
- Organ required. Continuo can be extended (e.g. with harpsichord)
- Stage setup
- 5 singers plus continuo. Standard concert setup.
Programme
Melani — Quae est ista
- SSATB bc
- Concerti Spirituali, op. 3 (1682).
Quae est ista
Who is this
novi luminis aurora consurgens,
dawn of new light arising,
quae progreditur aeternis
who advances
irradiata fulgoribus,
bathed in eternal splendors,
quae tanta laetitia,
what joy so great,
qui tantus nitor,
what brilliance so bright,
quae nam ista est?
who indeed is this?
Coeli de super rorate
Heavens above, drop your dew,
prata floribus ridete
meadows, gleam with flowers.
novae lucis et beatae gaudete,
Delight in the new, blessed dawn,
novi luminis gaudete.
rejoice in the new light.
Haec est Maria
This is Mary,
quae pulchra, quae pia
so fair, so devout,
diffundit in ortu
who spreads at dawn
coelestes nitores,
her celestial splendor
date rosas, date flores,
offer roses, offer flowers,
tantae Virgini favete.
honor a Virgin so great
Coeli de super rorate
Heavens above, drop your dew,
prata floribus ridete.
meadows, gleam with flowers.
Quae nox dispergitur
How the night is scattered,
oritur, quae dies.
how the day is born!
Augustis facibus
With august torches,
telluris incole
dwellers of the earth,
aeterno lumini,
the Eternal Light,
coelorum ordines,
ranks of heaven,
plaudite
applaud!
exultat in cantu
Rejoice in song
cui grata lux est
who welcome the light,
et fremat in planctu
and groan in grief
cui pulchra nox est.
who cherish the night.
Iam dulcis in via,
Now, sweet in her ways,
formosa et decora,
lovely and graceful,
exultat aurora,
the dawn exults,
incedit Maria.
Mary comes forth.
Translation: Bas Cornelissen
Stradella — Ave regina coelorum
- SA bc
- Alessandro Stradella, Composizioni Sacre da Chiesa (Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, Mus. F. 1140), cc. 41–48.
- Scarlatti — Toccata fuga in sol maggiore
- Org solo
Melani — Salve regina
- SSATB bc
- A. Melani (attrib., after 1667), Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, RISM I-Rism 94/19.
Carissimi — O dulcissimum Mariae nomen
- TB bc
- A. Poggioli, Delectus sacrarum cantionum 2–5vv (1652).
O dulcissimum Mariae nomen,
O sweetest name of Mary,
nomen vere sanctissimum,
name truly most holy,
O nomen gratiae,
O name of grace,
semper cogitandum;
ever to be thought upon;
O solatium animarum,
O solace of souls,
nomen venerandum;
name to be revered;
O nomen caelicum,
O heavenly name,
et vere angelicum,
and truly angelic,
resonent ergo in ore omnium.
let it resound then on the lips of all.
O Maria, mater pia,
O Mary, loving mother,
nos defende in hac via;
defend us on this way;
nos tuere, nos guberna,
guard us, guide us,
duc nos tecum ad superna
lead us with you to the heights above.
Translation: Tempera Mente
Melani — Alma redemptoris
- SSATB bc
- Münster, Diözesanbibliothek, Santini-Sammlung, Sant. Hs. 2658(11) (after 1667).
Carissimi — Salve amor noster
- SA bc
- Scelta de’ motetti da cantarsi […] Parte Prima (1665).
Salve amor noster,
Hail, our love,
Salve nostra spes et vita,
Hail, our hope and life,
Salve, o Maria.
Hail, O Mary.
Vulnerasti me sagitta amoris tui,
You wounded me with the arrow of your love,
inflammasti me incendio charitatis tuae
you enflamed me with the fire of your charity,
amor meus, ardor meus,
my love, my ardor,
o Maria.
O Mary.
Ecce cor meum in desiderio,
Here is my heart in longing,
in desiderio decoris tui,
in longing for your beauty
o pulcherima mulierum
oh, most beautiful of women
solum ardet, solum languet.
it only burns, it only languishes.
Fulcite me floribus,
Sustain me with flowers,
stipate me malis
surround me with apples,
quia cor meum, amore Virginis,
for my heart, for love of the Virgin,
totum ardet, solum languet
burns wholly, only languishes,
quam pulchri sunt gressus tui
how beautiful are your steps,
quam in calceamentis filia principis.
like a prince’s daughter in her sandals.
Trahe nos post te,
Draw us after you,
curremus in odorem unguentorum tuorum
let us run toward the fragrance of your perfumes.
quam decora es, Regina caeli
How beautiful you are, Queen of Heaven,
in vestito deaurato,
clothed in gold,
circumdata varietate.
surrounded by splendor.
Voca nos, suscipe nos
Call us, receive us,
et serviemus tibi Regina coeli
and we shall serve you, Queen of Heaven
et mundi Domina
and Lady of the world.
Virgo potens, Virgo dulcis,
Mighty Virgin, gentle Virgin,
o Maria.
O Mary.
Te circumdent flores rosarum
May roses surround you with flowers,
te coronet serta stellarum
may garlands of stars crown you.
Virgo pulchra terrae,
Beautiful Virgin of the earth,
Virgo fulgens caeli lux
Radiant Virgin, light of heaven.
florete flores Virginis
Bloom, o virginal flowers!
fulgete serta siderum
Shine, o starry garlands!
Virgo noster odor est
Virgin, you are our fragrance,
Virgo nostrum iubar es
Virgin, you are our radiance,
agite, dulcite, dicite laudes.
go forth, with sweetness, proclaim praises.
Laudes dicamus Virgini
Let us sing praises to the Virgin,
dicamus illi canticum
let us chant a song to her,
que noster amor est
for she is our love,
et consolatio nostra
and our comfort,
et delectatio nostra,
and our delight,
spes nostra,
our hope,
amor noster.
our love.
Translation: Tempera Mente
Pasquini — Variazioni dedicate a Monsignor Kaunitz
- Org solo
- Wien, Minoritenkonvent (?), Ms. Wien XIV 743.
Scarlatti — Magnificat
- SSATB bc
- Münster, Diözesanbibliothek, Santini-Sammlung, Sant. Hs. 3874 (“Magnificat a cinque…”).
Programme notes
Madonna mia
Rome, 17th century: city of popes, palaces, and processions. Among its baroque facades and secret gardens, a queen without a kingdom arrives in 1665: Christina of Sweden. She leaves behind her homeland’s crown and throne to found a new realm, here in the heart of the Catholic world: the kingdom of the arts. After her abdication and conversion to Catholicism, she becomes one of the most influential patrons in the city. Her Palazzo Ruspoli turns into a meeting place for poets, painters, and musicians – a laboratory where an entire era takes shape.
Rome in the 17th century is also the city of Marian devotion. Even today more than eighty churches in the city are dedicated to the Virgin. In baroque Rome, Mary is not only a religious symbol but also a projection of comfort, hope, and protection. Antiphons such as Salve Regina, Ave Regina caelorum, and Alma Redemptoris Mater form the musical heartbeat of this devotion.
In this way, Mary and Christina of Sweden stand side by side in a mysterious parallel: one as queen of heaven, the other as a queen without a crown who finds her spiritual home in Rome. Both are figures of inspiration, both shaping the artistic landscape in which the music in this programme was born.
Giacomo Carissimi (1605–1674), a close artistic reference point for Christina, worked at the Collegio Germanico in Rome. This Jesuit seminary enjoyed an outstanding musical reputation, which Carissimi enhanced still further after his appointment. Composers such as Charpentier and Christoph Bernhard travelled to Rome to study with him. His works bridge the seconda pratica and the emerging forms of the cantata with its arias and recitatives. In pieces such as O dulcissimum Mariae nomen or Salve amor noster, he transforms words into music with daring harmonic turns, paving the way for the High Baroque.
Slightly younger but within the same tradition, Alessandro Melani (1639–1703) is already firmly rooted in the High Baroque. His music is marked by clear text declamation and melodic inventiveness, as heard in his motet Quae est ista. Melani served as chapel master at Rome’s great basilica of S. Maria Maggiore. Alongside sacred works he also composed operas performed in Christina’s presence. Though fewer of his works are known today, in his lifetime Melani was a prolific and highly esteemed composer with strong ties to Europe’s princely courts.
As patron, Christina also supported Alessandro Stradella (1643–1682) generously, even providing the plot for a serenata that he set to music. His turbulent life, filled with intrigues, affairs, and flight, later inspired at least four operas. This passion and restlessness resonate in his compositions. His Ave Regina caelorum unfolds like a small sacred drama: full of contrasts, tension, and expressive turns. Stradella shows how Marian music could be imbued with theatrical intensity without losing its spiritual depth.
Bernardo Pasquini (1637–1710) was celebrated as one of the most brilliant musicians of his age – renowned as harpsichordist, organist, and composer. His variations dedicated to the diplomat Kaunitz are refined and witty musical games of themes and figures. But his œuvre also includes operas and sacred vocal music that won him great recognition in 1670s and ’80s Rome. He was admitted to the Accademia dell’Arcadia, a society of poets and thinkers devoted to the fine arts – founded, unsurprisingly, by Christina of Sweden. Like Melani, and later Scarlatti, Pasquini also served as organist at S. Maria Maggiore.
Finally, Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725), a generation younger, also became associated with S. Maria Maggiore some years after Melani and Pasquini. Supported by Christina, he laid the foundations for the Neapolitan school and thus for the Late Baroque. His Magnificat reveals even in sacred music the signs of new beginnings: contrapuntal rigor paired with the expressive force of baroque opera. The text itself, a cornerstone of Marian devotion, speaks passionately of Mary’s faith in God – a revolutionary hymn of upheaval and hope.