The Greatest of Mediæval Hymns [pp. 28-40]

34 TilE G1?EATEST OF MEDI~vAL HYMNs. [Oct.,
By a severe spiritual discipline the early sorrows of Astorga
were assimilated with a love and a sympathy far-reaching in intensity of grasp. Instead of profaning they nourished a sublimer
faith and a livelier hope which hallowed, exalted, and refined all
human associations. Although the impetuosity of his character
was subjugated by the interior life of a religious community, it
was but natural that he should still hear the echoes, even in the
words of the "Stabat Mater," of those memories which were chastened but not obliterated. However sad in themselves, when
purified by faith they became propitious for the expression of
the beatitude of suffering commemorated in that hymn. In the
music of Pergolesi there is a certain pictorial grandeur which
defi~s description, and some one, in endeavoring to convey an
idea ~f the living picture which his "Stabat Mater" presents,
simply~bandoned all effort in that direction by remarking that
"the angels could not help weeping as they listened to it." The
perfection of his art lies in the masterly power of the distribution of harmonie~ iii keeping with the subject-matter of his
compositions. There is a natural flow of cadence~ from sequence to sequence which makes the unity of the whole complete without being harsh or monotonous. The music of his
"Stabat Mater" is its own interpreter and needs no words to
reveal the sufferings of the Mater dolorosa. In declining health
Pergolesi resigned his position as chapelmaster in Lore to and
removed to Torre del Greco, at the foot of the fiery Vesuvius.
Here in these last days, broken by disease and subdued by the
inevitable end which was rapidly approaching, he produced
among other compositions a "Stabat Mater" which alone is worthy to perpetuate his fame. It is said that the spectacle of an execution and the grief of the victim's surviving relative, of which
Pergolesi was an unwilling witness, so touched his heart and
racked his memory that he could find no rest till calmed by the
sweet influences which his own music inspired, then composed
in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows
"Sancta Mater, fons arnoris."
Divested of the sympathy which flows from the cross, how degrading are the effects of all exhibitions of physical pain!
Herein lies the difference of view between the thought that is
Christian and the thought that is pagan. The brutalizing power
of a faith which sees no life beyond this, the beginning and the
end of man's destiny, is portrayed in the ghastly legend which
Seneca has recorded of one of the greatest paintings of an