“And we were in a church, to hear music, which was by Signor Ciccio De Majo, and it was beautiful music.” With these words, the fourteen-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in a letter dated May 29, 1770, to his sister Nannerl, expressed his enthusiasm for the music of Gian Francesco de Majo, known in Neapolitan circles as “Ciccio,” which he had had the opportunity to listen to during his time in Naples. Great-nephew of the famous opera composer Francesco Feo, with whom he studied as a youth, de Majo was a true child prodigy . At the age of 13, he began serving as second harpsichordist at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, and from 1747 he assisted his father as maestro of the Royal Chapel, initially as an unpaid supernumerary organist, before becoming second organist in 1758. De Majo was active as an opera composer in various cities across Italy, including Livorno, Venice, and Turin. It was at the Teatro Regio in Turin that he performed his most famous opera, Motezuma , in 1765, with a libretto by Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi. The oratorio Gesù sotto il peso della croce , written in 1764, was erroneously attributed to Metastasio but actually based on a text by an anonymous composer. In this work, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and John, near the gate of Jerusalem leading to Calvary, experience the passion of Jesus Christ, expressing their profound sorrow. This sacred work showcases de Majo's extraordinary vocal writing, notable for the beauty of its melody, which was also praised by the German writer Wilhelm Heinse. In his celebrated novel Hildegard von Hohenthal , Heinse stated that de Majo's melody was superior, in grace and feeling, even to that of Pergolesi and Gluck. All the arias in the oratorio follow the da capo structure, and the final "Chorus" is particularly interesting. Performed by the three main characters, it is distinguished by a contrapuntal and imitative writing of rare refinement.

Lucia Cortese

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Oct 4, 2026

68th WEEK OF SACRED MUSIC OF MONREALE - THE LIFE OF CHRIST · Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana

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