May 12, 2025, marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Friar Stanislao MATTEI, OFM Conv. Friar Stanislao was born in Bologna, in 1750. He lived and worked there until his death at age seventy-five.
For his musical training and spiritual formation, he was placed in the care of his confrere, close friend and confessor, Friar Giambattista MARTINI. MATTEI became a beloved disciple of MARTINI and said of him that he could learn a lot from the “truly Christian and religious conduct” of his master. In 1784, MARTINI handed MATTEI the baton of the Choir Master at the Church of San Francesco in Bologna, thus making him one of the pivotal figures in the musical life of Bologna (and elsewhere) between the 18th and 19th centuries. MATTEI suffered the consequences of the Napoleonic suppressions at the end of the eighteenth century and the dispersion of the religious that followed. He moved in with his mother, sharing a modest apartment with her, not far from what was now his former friary.
In 1799, MATTEI joined the prestigious Accademia dei Filarmonici, then presided over it three times, in 1803, 1808 and 1818). In 1804, he was among the founders of Bologna’s Philharmonic High School (later the Musical High School), the forerunner of today’s Conservatory. While there, he taught counterpoint and composition to many future great musicians, including Gioachino ROSSINI, Gaetano DONIZETTI and Francesco MORLACCHI. He was also responsible for donating MARTINI’s invaluable library and portrait gallery to the Municipality. It became the heart of the heritage collection now preserved at the International Museum and Library of Music in Bologna. The collection is internationally esteemed. MATTEI was able to preserve these treasures from the Napoleonic confiscations and also added many other valuable works that had been missing or were no longer available in MARTINI’s collection. The catalogue of MARTINI’s works includes music for liturgical and devotional purposes (Masses, oratorios, motets, and responsories), a theatrical work, and twenty-seven symphonies.
The San Francesco Workshop in Bologna, promoted by the Library of the same name, will celebrate the humble yet distinguished Friar Stanislao MATTEI on May 17, 2025. Without MATTEI, the history of music would surely have taken a different course. The celebration will take the form of a study day. Many experts will discuss MATTEI’s work as a musician, musicographer and teacher. During the second half of the day, special attention will be given to the Oratorio della Passione, which MATTEI composed in 1792, based on the famous libretto by Pietro METASTASIO. It was a score that in its day was much admired, loved and sought after by the erudite public and by the ruling houses. Today it deserves to be rediscovered and promoted. To crown the study day, the second version of this musical work will be performed. It will mirror the performance that took place in Bologna in 1806, which featured among its soloists the fourteen year old Gioachino ROSSINI, who was also a skilled singer and sang the part of Mary Magdalene as a contralto.
This second version of the oratorio has been professionally edited and refined by the author of this article, so that it can now be performed confidently. It will be published by the UtOrpheus publishing house. The performance will be recorded and made available on CD thanks to Tactus. The lectures given during the study day will be reproduced in a volume of proceedings, published online and available in open access in the series “Quaderni di ‘Artes’ – Rivista dell’Officina San Francesco Bologna,” hosted on the website of the University of Bologna (https://artes.unibo.it/).
Elisabetta PASQUINI, University of Bologna
Project Curator
For further reading (in Italian only):
https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/stanislao-mattei_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
Downloads:
– Study Day Poster >>>
– Concert Poster: “The Passion of Jesus Christ Our Lord” >>>
