Stanza della Segnatura III The Cardinal Virtues

Geoffrey's Gordon's four movement chamber work is inspired by Raphael's frescoes in the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican Palace, painted between 1508 and 1512 under the auspices of Pope Julius II, constitute one of the greatest cycles of painting produced during the Italian Renaissance. (He started working on these stanzas in early 1509 and finished in November 1511.)

The first of Pope Julius II's rooms in the papal apartments to be decorated with Raphael's frescoes was the study in which the "Signatura gratiae" tribunal was originally located (Stanza della Segnatura). The artist's concept brings into harmony the spirits of Antiquity and Christianity.

The humanist quadripartition of culture - theology, poetry, justice and philosophy - has a parallel in the four elements making up the universe: air, water, fire and earth. Each of these is represented by an allegorical painting on the walls of this room: Theology was represented by Disputa (the Adoration), poetry by Parnassus, Jurisprudence represented law (the Cardinal Virtues), and the extremely famous The School of Athens represented philosophy.

Stanza della Segnatura follows this model and inspiration: a work for chamber forces consistent with the instruments of the era which nevertheless employs contemporary language, rhythm and sonority. Each movement features one of the instrumentalists as soloist--varying from very briefly to exclusively in the case of the harpsichord solo second movement--allowing an opportunity for improvisational expression which satisfies both the era of the inspirational artwork and the current direction of my own writing.

In Raphaels hands, these frescoes are miracles of high Renaissance sensibility which stand for the intellectual reconciliation of Christianity and classical antiquity in perfect concord. In response, this work too strives to achieve a kind of contemporary harmony--movement within strict symmetry--a union of the real and the ideal. The score is published by the UK-based Peacock Press.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Geoffrey Gordon
• Stanza della Segnatura
• classical music
• chamber music
• contemporary music
• viola da gamba
• harpsichord
• Raphael
• frescoes