Bernardo Pasquini: Cain & Abel

Claudio Cavina (Abele); Nadia Ragni (Caino); Andreana Galante (Eva); Gianpaolo Fagotto (Il Testo); Furio Zanasi (Adamo, Satan, Iddio); Il Teatro Armonico; Alessandro De Marchi, direction

Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1717)
Cain & Abel (oratorio, 1671)

The name of Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1717) has until now been associated above all with his music for keyboard, a situation perhaps explained by the fact that during his musical career Pasquini held the post of organist at some of the most important Roman churches: at the Chiesa Nuova, Santa Maria Maggiore and finally at Santa Maria in Aracoeli, the church of the "senate and the Roman people". Nonetheless, in addition to this "public" activity, Pasquini was among the busiest composers of his time in providing music for the noble Roman homes: from the Colonna family to the Borghese, in whose service he was regularly employed throughout his entire stay in Rome; from Queen Christine of Sweden to the noted patron-cardinals Benedetto Pamphilj and Pietro Ottoboni.
Caino e Abele provides us with an example of such an oratorio destined for the palace of a Roman nobleman. The oratorio was "sung in the chapel of the lord prince Borghese in the year 1671", very probably in the chapel of the Borghese palace in Rome. The oratorio is divided into the usual two parts, allowing for the insertion of a sermon which would lend a greater religious character to the occasions. The poetic-musical structure of Caino e Abele presents, along with the usual aria-recitative, numerous parts for two and three voices, revealing slightly more "antiquated" tastes than those of other contemporary librettists whose concept of an oratorio libretto consisted almost exclusively of the "recitative-aria" for solo voices typical of opera librettos.

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