During the 2023 3D animation jury at Piktura (formerly Pôle 3D)
the jury—including ourselves—was deeply impressed by the student short Stabat Mater
presents a powerful theme and an equally striking visual treatment
Stabat Mater‘s 3D animation resembles stop-motion
The team even went so far as to recreate certain artifacts of this technique in 3D
The film also boldly plays with grain and overexposure.Poetic
Stabat Mater offers a sharply defined visual identity
The film’s evocative power is further enhanced by the use of split-screen and a single-take shot.In short: one of the most memorable shorts we had the chance to see during that year’s jury
The sorrowful son was standing beside the rope weeping
Sound design: Hadrien Maton.Sound Editing: Pierre-Antoine Naline.Final Mix: Christian Cartier
Editor specialising in 3D and 2D/VFX/real time 3D/XR animation
Passionate about the evolution of digital creation
I've been part of the 3DVF team since 2010
I go to trade shows with my notebook and camera in hand
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3DVF keeps you up to date with all the latest news and industry secrets
It’s funny what you see at orchestral concerts
If you weren’t in the hall during Poulenc’s Stabat Mater would you even realise that the tuba uses a mute in the final chord
whether standing on the floor or being heaved into the instrument’s bell
Richard Bratby is the chief classical music critic of The Spectator
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Antonín Dvořák’s Stabat Mater is a sensitive and humble setting of the Crucifixion story
attributed to the medieval Italian Franciscan monk Jacopone da Todi
the overall tone of the work is positive and life-affirming
under the baton of Artistic Director Aaron Beck
join forces to offer an evening of transcendence from despair to hope
Sung in Latin with English translation provided
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Anticipating their performance of the Stabat Mater of Giovanni Pergolesi in Sandpoint on Palm Sunday (April 13th)
Sandpoint Conservatory voice department head Brenda Rutledge
and pianist Daniel Hughes talk with Jim Tevenan and perform selections from Pergolesi's sacred music masterpiece
and soloists present the Australian premiere of a brand new choral work by Swedish composer Fredrik Sixten in our annual “Music for Holy Week” series
The Stabat Mater portrays Mary at the foot of the cross experiencing her son’s crucifixion – an extraordinary depiction of a mother’s suffering
acclaimed world-wide as a truly significant composer of our time
dissonance and expressivity to produce a powerful
Canticum is proud to present this outstanding new contribution to contemporary sacred music for the first time in Australia
both in the glorious acoustic of Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Wednesday 16 April at 7.30pm and Good Friday 18 April at 5.30pm
Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra
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Karol Szymanowski joins a prestigious line of composers who have set the anonymous mediaeval text to music: Palestrina
Szymanowski has updated the tradition by using a Polish translation of the Latin text and adding Polish folk melodies to the religious piece
as if Mary’s sorrow could not yet be shared
and only come together in the closing section
This vocal masterpiece by Szymanowski is supplemented with his own Fourth Symphony and two works by his compatriots: the Suita for string orchestra by Grażyna Bacewicz – also dating from the 1930s – and Krzysztof Penderecki’s Ciaconne from 2005
Co-organized by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the international cultural program of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2025
Read the programme here. At 7.30 pm there are introductions both in Dutch (Espace Le Bœuf) and French (Salon Ovale.
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Tulsa Opera will present “Stabat Mater” Saturday
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spirituality and music will come together as Tulsa Opera presents “Stabat Mater,” Antonín Dvořák’s masterpiece of choral music
Tulsa Opera artistic director Aaron Beck will conduct the performance
which will feature the Tulsa Opera Orchestra
the Tulsa Opera Signature Chorale and four soloists — soprano Paige Grilliot Dickey and tenor Justin Kroll
both of whom are Filstrup Resident Artists and Laven Sowell Artists with Tulsa Opera
and soprano Mary Ann Stewart and bass-baritone Mark McCrory
Aaron Beck is the artistic director of Tulsa Opera
The work will be performed in Latin with English surtitles
The “Stabat Mater” is based on a 13th-century text attributed to the Italian Franciscan monk Jacopone da Todi
which describes the scene of the crucifixion of Jesus through the eyes of his mother
The work takes its title from the first line of the text: “Stabat Mater dolorosa iuxta crucem lacrimosa dum pendebat Filius,” or “The grieving Mother stood weeping beside the cross where her Son was hanging.”
“Dvořák’s ‘Stabat Mater’ is one of the most profoundly moving works in the vocal repertoire — filled with sweeping emotion
spiritual depth and raw humanity,” Beck said
“Presenting it with the Tulsa Opera Signature Chorale and Tulsa Opera Orchestra reflects the artistic ambition at the heart of Tulsa Opera: to honor the tradition of great vocal music while embracing opportunities to bring powerful
rarely heard masterpieces to our stage and our community.”
A stained glass interpretation by Tulsa artist Mandy Pelotte of this image created by Laura Sage will be raffled off as part of Tulsa Opera’s production of the “Stabat Mater.”
Dvořák’s inspiration for the ‘Stabat Mater’ is traditionally attributed to his grief over the death of his 2-day-old daughter
it was following the tragic deaths of his remaining two children
that Dvořák added three movements and set it for orchestra
The ‘Stabat Mater’ premiered in Prague on Dec
and soon received performances in Brno (conducted by Czech Leoš Janáček)
the last to such resounding success that Dvořák was invited to conduct it himself the following year in London’s Royal Albert Hall
This performance represented Dvořák’s first major international success and helped establish his ‘Stabat Mater’ as the most famous setting of the text
as well as one of his most popular and frequently performed works
Tulsa Opera’s production will also mark the debut of a new program
“Art at the Opera,” which will spotlight visual artists and writers to attend a designated performance and create works inspired by their experiences
The first artist selected is Tulsa glass artist Mandy Pelotte
who has re-created the “Stabat Mater” portion of Laura Sage’s artwork used as part of Tulsa Opera’s marketing for the season
The piece will be raffled off at the performance; raffle tickets are $5 and may be purchased in advance or the night of the concert
Pelotte will also conduct a demonstration of stained glass art prior to the concert’s start
Tickets are $25. To purchase and more information: 918-582-3133, tulsaopera.com
The debut of the touring production of "The Outsiders" is certain to be one of the biggest events in the city's arts calendar
james.watts@tulsaworld.com
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The Valletta Baroque Ensemble (ViBE) and KorMalta are today presenting the concert Baroque Music for Lent: Stabat Mater
The second concert of the Scarlatti Series centres once again on Alessandro Scarlatti
a central figure of the Neapolitan baroque period
who composed his Stabat Mater in 1723 for the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Virgin of Sorrows in Naples
The piece was commissioned to replace an earlier setting by Giacomo Carissimi and was performed annually during Lenten services
Though it has been somewhat overshadowed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s later setting (1736)
Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater remains deeply expressive
attributed to the 13th-century Franciscan poet Jacopone da Todi
is a deeply moving meditation on the suffering of the Virgin Mary as she witnesses the crucifixion of her son
it became a central text for sacred musical settings
often performed as part of Lenten devotions
Today’s programme includes works from mainly three composers: Scarlatti (1660-1725)
who was best known for his operas and sacred music; Antonio Caldara (1670-1736)
a Venetian-born composer who was one of the leading figures in early 18th-century sacred music; and Johann Adolph Hasse (1699-1783)
Hasse began his career as a tenor singer at the Hamburg Opera and presented his first opera in 1721 at the Brunswick Court Opera
The evening will see Riccardo Bianchi as director and organist
as well as five members of the Valletta Baroque Ensemble (ViBE)
The concert is being held in collaboration with Festivals Malta and KorMalta
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What happens when the grandeur of Italian opera meets the reverence of sacred music
You get Gioachino’s Rossini’s Stabat Mater—a masterpiece full of emotion and meaning
blending operatic drama with the sublime grace of sacred choral music
Stabat Mater is a classical poem from the Catholic liturgy that resonates deeply with Goans as ‘Dukhest Avoi Dukhan Borit’
often sung during the Good Friday ceremony of the Descent from the Cross
Rossini’s interpretation transforms this timeless hymn into an unforgettable musical experience
combining the majesty of opera with the spiritual depth of sacred music
Stuti’s performance will take place on November 23 at the Mission Seminary Chapel in Pilar and November 24 at St Anthony Church in Siolim
The performance will feature four soloists
adding new depth to the choir and string orchestra
Since the original Stabat Mater was written for a full orchestra
Java has rearranged it to suit Stuti’s ensemble
making it accessible to Goan audiences while keeping its richness intact
This version also brings out parts of the music that are often hidden in larger productions.
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titled "Musical Meditations for Passiontide"
The featured work will be the well-known Stabat Mater
a setting of the ancient hymn depicting Mary’s response to the death of Christ
Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater will be sung by Caroline Burchell (soprano) and Claire Barton (mezzo-soprano)
accompanied by an instrumental ensemble of members of the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra
The programme also includes two of Georg Telemann’s characterful solo vocal cantatas
Soprano Caroline Burchell grew up in Dunedin and is now based in Wellington
She began life as a choral singer at the age of 6
and now performs as a soloist and in chamber ensembles around the country
Her vocal teachers have included Lesley Graham
and hopes to soon secure a place at an overseas conservatoire to study towards a Masters in Vocal Performance
She enjoys singing a wide variety of repertoire
though her solo engagements have tended towards early music
Claire Barton is a mezzo-soprano and proud Dunedinite
She is currently writing a PhD on female singers and singing teachers in Dunedin after 1945
She also teaches classical singing to private students
She has appeared regularly as a soloist for City Choir Dunedin over the past 15 years
Tickets $25 through Eventfinda (fees apply) or at the door (no eftpos)
Students $10 at the door; accompanied children free
a musical masterpiece is set to take center stage
offering audiences a deeply moving experience
one of Gioachino Rossini’s most powerful works
blending sacred devotion with the drama of opera in a way only Rossini could achieve
Stabat Mater is based on a 13th-century hymn that portrays the grief of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross
Rossini infused this sacred text with the rich melodies and theatrical intensity of his operatic style
The result is a work that is both emotionally charged and profoundly spiritual
and a stirring orchestral score that captures both sorrow and hope
a collaboration between the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation and Papadopoulos & Schinos Productions
promises to be a highlight of the season for classical music lovers and those seeking a moment of reflection through art
2025 – 8:30 PM at Nicosia Municipal Theatre Limassol: Thursday
Tickets: €17 – €25 Available at: www.ticketmaster.cy
For further details, visit www.cyso.org.cy or call 22 463144
With its soaring melodies and profound emotional depth
Stabat Mater is more than just a concert—it’s an experience that resonates long after the final note
Whether you're drawn to its spiritual themes or simply appreciate masterful music
Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Riccardo Frizza (dir)
Elisabetta Brusa (b 1954) explains in a booklet note that composing a Requiem had been an ambition for most of her career
but that she knew she had to wait to do it until she had accumulated enough life experience to be able to produce a mature work
In 2020 she felt ready to contemplate the task
and composed her Stabat Mater as a trial piece
drawing on the last moments of her parents
the idea of Christ’s suffering on the cross and her love of music
followed in 2020/21 and both pieces are recorded here for the first time
romantic orchestration and dramatic contrasts
the Requiem almost matches Verdi’s in its operatic scale
Frank Martin and other 20th-century composers and is very well performed
keening Stabat Mater for solo soprano and orchestra is a real tour de force by Réka Kristóf
This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2024 issue of Choir & Organ. Never miss an issue – subscribe today
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This weekend finds conductor Eric Jacobsen concluding his two-week residency leading the Grant Park Orchestra at Millennium Park. While Jacobsen, co-founder of New York’s The Knights, has made a largely positive impression in his previous programs
the results Friday night at the Pritzker Pavilion were more mixed
That leaves it an open question whether Jacobsen is an obvious choice to succeed outgoing Grant Park artistic director and principal conductor Carlos Kalmar
Friday’s program opened with Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning)from 1918
heard for the first time at the downtown summer series
the younger sister of the famed pedagogue Nadia
was the first woman to claim the coveted Prix de Rome in 1913
She was plagued with health issues throughout her short life and died just two months after completing D’un matin at age 25
It is hard not to imagine what might have been upon hearing this evocative stanza. The five-minute work opens with a transparent pulsing evocative of early spring awakening
More languid passages ensue with the unmistakable influence of Debussy in harmony and orchestration
before a brief energetic coda closes the work
Jacobsen led a subtle reading that brought out Boulanger’s imaginative engagement with the musical trends of her day
Poulenc’s Stabat Mater found Jacobsen at work with the Grant Park Chorus in another inventive French opus
The Stabat Mater text treats Mary’s mourning following the crucifixion
and Poulenc composed the 1950 setting following the death of a close friend
turning to his own Roman Catholic faith for solace
is a prime example of the French composer’s spiritual seriousness juxtaposed with his wryer cabaret influences
From the descending sighs of the opening “Stabat Mater dolorosa,” the chorus was in fine form
thoughtfully prepared as always by director Christopher Bell
They projected enormous collective force in the violent movements that depict Mary’s acute grief
and Jacobsen fluently negotiated Poulenc’s wide range of expression
Moments of choral fire and brimstone had a guttural impact
and more playful episodes came off with Gallic charm
currently pursuing graduate studies at Curtis and returning to Grant Park following her festival debut last summer
Reynolds possesses a powerful instrument and is an assured presence on stage
though her initial solo movements came off as somewhat stiff Friday
with some harshness at the top of her range
palpably conveying the devastation of the final “Quando corpus,” where her lamentation soared over the dense texture of both the chorus and orchestra
It remains a distracting drag this summer to have to unlock and scroll through one’s phone to read translations at Grant Park choral performances in the absence of printed programs
Might we compromise and at least have a cheaply printed translation available for those concertgoers who care to follow along
The evening concluded with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade
On the basis of Jacobsen’s two previous outings
one expected great things in this Russian orchestral warhorse
but Friday’s performance was surprisingly earthbound for such a kaleidoscopic
“The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship” lacked the necessary storm-tossed sweep
“The Tale of Prince Kalendar” saw inspired solo playing from the principal winds
but Jacobsen struggled to knit these contributions into a coherent narrative
Concertmaster Jeremy Black’s beguiling contributions depicting the titular raconteur certainly elevated the performance
but could not counteract the prevailing flat
Jacobsen’s more spacious approach was better suited to the languors of “The Young Prince and the Princess,” but still one had a sense he was not fully at home with Rimsky-Korsakov’s style
“The Festival at Bagdad” brought some belated fireworks as it cantered along precipitously
and the return of the first movement’s material had the drama that previously had been lacking
but ultimately this was a more muted outing that Jacobsen’s prior podium appearances
and was treated to an encore of Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance No
8 in G minor from the composer’s Opus 46 set
Jacobsen and colleagues gave an energetic account of this Furiant
punctuating the evening with a bang after the quiet conclusion to Scheherazade
The program will be repeated 7:30 p.m. Saturday. grantparkmusicfestival.com
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Today’s Video of the Day is a performance of Clive Osgood’s ‘O Quam Tristis’ taken from his Stabat Mater
the Choir of Royal Holloway and the London Mozart Players under conductor Rupert Gough
Their performance of Osgood’s complete Stabat Mater is set for release on 7 March
The Stabat Mater was originally a 13th century hymn to the Virgin Mary and describes Mary
standing at the foot of cross on which he is dying
Osgood’s work was composed in 2009 and divides the original twenty stanzas of the text into ten movements
The programme notes for this performance describe the third movement
as providing the heart of the Stabat Mater
The soprano soloist embodies the voice of Mary as she sings of her distress
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The Sistine Chapel has played host to the first ever live-streamed concert
allowing audiences around the world to watch a performance of Stabat Mater by Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan
MacMillan’s haunting setting of the 13th century text
portraying the pain and sorrow of Mary standing at the foot of the Cross
received glowing reviews at its world premiere in London eighteen months ago
The work was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation
set up by businessman and philanthropist John Studzinski
Sunday’s ground breaking event in the Sistine Chapel featured British choir ‘The Sixteen’ and chamber orchestra ensemble the ‘Britten Sinfonia’
performing against the backdrop of Michelangelo’s majestic Last Judgement
Welcoming the audience seated below the famous frescoed ceiling
English Cardinal Vincent Nichols prayed that God would touch the hearts of all listeners so that they might show compassion to those who suffer in today’s world
Conductor Harry Christophers praised the acoustic quality of the Sistine Chapel
which draws some six million pilgrims and visitors each year
The performance of this profoundly moving piece
conveying the depths of Mary’s despair as she witnesses the Crucifixion
received a lengthy ovation at the conclusion of its four movements
Members of the audience described the drama and intensity of MacMillan’s score as “mind blowing”
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favourite Pergolesi has just died of a chest infection… but his Stabat Mater is considered to be the masterwork of Latin music.’
When the French writer Charles de Brosses visited Naples in 1739
he lamented the passing of one of its finest composers: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Pergolesi had been declared ‘the Raphael and Virgil of music’
the intermezzo La serva padrona of 1733 and the Stabat Mater
said to have been written on his death-bed
were pronounced ‘as indestructible as nature’
Stylistically, Pergolesi echoed the lyrical melodies and transparent textures of his comic intermezzo La serva padrona
Particularly controversial to 18th-century listeners were the dancing rhythms
gambolling motifs and decorative trills which seemed to trivialise the grief-laden text
The composer Charles Avison claimed the young composer had not understood the difference between ‘the tenderness or passion of a theatrical scene and the solemnity of devotion.’
off-beat rhythms deliberately distort the natural accents of the text to evoke the stabbing sword that pierces the Virgin’s soul
against the dancing rhythms of Quae moerebat
syncopations and trills suggest emotional turbulence
No other performers are as fully conversant with Neapolitan Baroque music as Antonio Florio and his Naples-based ensemble
the Cappella de’ Turchini (now re-named Cappella Neapolitana)
Decades of experience researching and performing the city’s musical heritage gives them the edge when it comes to understanding the kaleidoscopic range of styles that inspires Pergolesi’s work
light intermezzo-style airs and tragic operatic duets
Florio strikes a fine balance between soave lyricism and articulate rhetoric
while soprano Maria Grazia Schiavo turns from fresh-voiced innocent to impassioned tragedienne
Stéphanie d’Oustrac’s effortlessly straight-toned voice is nonetheless richly expressive
They’re placed in the midst of the instrumental ensemble
which in turn weaves an intricate tapestry of sound rather than providing mere accompaniment
reflecting the Neapolitan penchant for plucked strings
The Ricercar Consort’s sound is at once lustrous and intimate in this 2005 recording
The voices of Núria Rial and Carlos Mena have real fervour
and they’re so beautifully paired that at times they seem to melt into one
paint the words and articulate phrases with great sensitivity
Pierlot carries the work’s gravitas and piety without ever being heavy handed
and he lightens the shades where necessary
Barbara Bonney and Andreas Scholl are matchless
and Rousset’s Les Talens Lyriques instrumentalists play with a suave – rather Mozartian – style
Scholl comes closer to the sacred heart of the piece; Bonney’s approach is more operatic and extrovert
but – with the exception of the transcendently beautiful duet Quando corpus morietur
spiritual vision – it sounds more like a concert piece than a religious lament
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The intake of breath that precipitates the rush of energy and action brings memories flooding back
honours the legacy of Sir Robert Cohan and combines performance of his works choreographed between 1975 to 2019
snippets of film and his own engaging chat
He opens remembering his introduction to Graham technique
how the sensation grabbed him and how he instantly recognised his life’s path
It was London’s good fortune that philanthropist Robin Howard persuaded him to come to the capital in 1967 to form a company and the necessary school to train the dancers
The ‘70s were heady days as contemporary dance
The programme opened on Stabat Mater (1975) one of Cohan’s most memorable works and students from the Royal Swedish Ballet School in Stockholm did it proud
the sudden total collapse on the floor all bear silent witness to the suffering of the women at the Cross
The young dancers showed emotional intelligence beyond their years in a moving performance
another early work was shown in archival film footage featuring performances from vintage London Contemporary Dance Theatre dancers
Sigh (2014) to Edward Elgar’s Sospiri and Communion (2019) were evidence of Cohan’s unerring choreographic ability
They were given sterling performances by Liam Riddick in the first and Dane Hurst on film in the second
It was a rare treat to see two of our top male contemporary dancers perform these works
with every fibre of their bodies dancing in airborne leaps and melting rolls
Lingua Franca (2014) to Bach’s Chaconne in D Minor
another of the award-winning dancer in the company of Abigail Attard-Montalto
making conversation in sometimes simple exchanges and occasionally more complex structures
coming to a close as the quartet finally link arms
To conclude a stage full of student dancers from Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance demonstrated the power and energy of the Graham technique in Class (1975)
It closed an evening of nostalgia but mainly of joy; a living tribute to the man who transformed London’s dance scene
This event is organized by an external institution
The Stabat Mater is one of the few sacred works composed by Antonín Dvořák
reminiscent of the Orthodox a cappella liturgy
alternate with the contrasting solo and polyphonic sections
The choirs and solo passages are accompanied by a large symphony orchestra deploying a rich palette of instrumental colors.
Kris Belligh and the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra will deploy the full range of nuances that this work demonstrates
under the direction of the conductor Laëndi.
A total of 150 artists on stage to perform a masterful work intense in emotion
and support the action of Handicap International
PRICE: 22.5€ - 27.5€ - 32.5€ - 42.5€ - 52.5€ (ticketing fees included)
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Generations of composers have set the 13th-century hymn meditating on the suffering of Mary
As James MacMillan’s Stabat Mater premieres on Saturday
he explains why text still speaks to us today
It invites the reader and the listener to partake in the mother’s grief as a path to grace
and as part of a believer’s spiritual journey
One candidate is the Franciscan monk Jacapone da Todi who died in 1306
another is Pope John XXII (who died in 1334)
It’s a difficult text to set – the mood of tragedy is sustained and all-consuming
and the 20 verses follow a set rhythmic pattern
This has not deterred generation after generation of composers
like many of those of the 18th and 19th centuries
is too unwieldly for anything other than concert performances
but to my ears there’s both a functionality and a purity about the earlier voice-only settings
My own work is for the concert stage and a string orchestra
but perhaps within it there’s a murmur of these ancient settings – a deliberately archaic feel to my writing
especially those associated with the crucifixion
seem to have an irresistible attraction to composers of today
whether they are conventionally religious or not
been unnerved by its “Mariolatry” but the sheer beauty and pathos of the words have usually overcome Protestant objections
broken heart of Mary is recapitulated in the lives of many
and artists with an empathy for our shared humanity will always return to embrace it
who suggested the Stabat Mater for a large-scale work
prompted by his belief that Mary’s grief at the foot of the cross is recognisable to hundreds of thousands of parents around the world
I’ve composed smaller a cappella works for the group but this is my first large-scale score for them
They sang my Seven Last Words From the Cross with me in Amsterdam in 2009
and that was the springboard for composing this more substantial hour-long work
Stabat Mater starts with the cluster that ends that earlier work
and then heads from these dying embers in a new direction
I’ve set the complete text with 20 verses cast into four movements
The challenge for the composer is the sorrowful mood throughout but
there was huge scope to move towards something much more dramatic and enervating
Parts of it have featured in several of my previous compositions
not least in my first opera Inés de Castro
Seven Last Words From the Cross and my two Passion settings
In 2007’s St John Passion I used excerpts of the text in its seventh movement as a commentary on the moment when Mary beholds her dying son on the cross
You can even find the Crucifixion narrative in my orchestral music – in my orchestral trilogy Triduum
and in the piano trio Fourteen Little Pictures
which is based on the 14 stations of the cross
Perhaps these were all in various ways preparations for the complete setting
Tamara Stefanovich/Christian Gerhaher/Tabea Zimmermann/Jörg Widmann/Bavarian RSO/Stanley Dodds(BR Klassik)A recording marking German composer Wolfgang Rihm’s 70th birthday vividly demonstrates how protean his vast output is
still springing surprisesThis article is more than 3 years oldTamara Stefanovich/Christian Gerhaher/Tabea Zimmermann/Jörg Widmann/Bavarian RSO/Stanley Dodds(BR Klassik)A recording marking German composer Wolfgang Rihm’s 70th birthday vividly demonstrates how protean his vast output is
and bring together two of Rihm’s works from the beginning of the century with the Stabat Mater
View image in fullscreenWolfgang Rihm 39 album artworkThey also demonstrate vividly how protean Rihm’s music can be
his music has always been in a dialogue with the past
and of how he has never been afraid to use whatever musical language seemed appropriate
post-Bergian expressionism or the most fractured pointillism
Both Sphäre nach Studie (Sphere after Study) for six instrumentalists of 2002 and Male über Male (Paint on Paint) for clarinet and ensemble of 2008 are based on earlier pieces
to which Rihm added further layers of instrumental commentary while leaving the original solo lines intact; they are both spare
in which each pitch seems carefully rationed
By contrast the setting of the Stabat Mater hymn
with the viola line wreathed around the baritone’s declamatory phrases
feels almost medieval in its unadorned rawness; even now
ever-renewing stream of invention that seems to follow its own satisfying logic
though you’d never guess it from the Munich performance
The music of Antonin Dvorak’s “Stabat Mater” is itself redemptive
we comprehend that the words of the hymn through the very grandeur of the music have led us from a most somber and tragic experience with corresponding musical setting to a new hope—that death
I was in the Woodstock Center Xeroxing something or other
The young man in charge of the operations there told me that the following Friday he was singing at the Kennedy Center
The National Symphony Orchestra was doing Antonin Dvorak’s “Stabat Mater,” with the Czech conductor Zdenek Macal and the Oratorio Society of Washington
This event seemed like something that should not be missed
have often mentioned the visit Dvorak (1841-1904) made to Spillville
the nineteenth-century center of Czech immigration into the homesteading farmland of Iowa
One likes to think that the familiar music of the New World symphony or the quartet or the cello concerto
bore the spirit and flavor of those fertile plains of Northern Iowa that were home to my mother’s parents and grandparents
My Bohemian mother was born in the year Dvorak died in Prague
probably a Gregorian one—I can still hum it in my off-key way for anyone who can stand it— was most familiar to me from my altar boy days at Saint Anthony’s Parish in Knoxville
As we lived but two houses away from the church
during Lent my brother and I were often recruited for regular duty to serve for the Stations of the Cross
which seem in memory to have been held every day
but probably only on Wednesdays and Fridays
with Father Horan or Father Garrity to lead us around to each Station
was sung at every second Station so that the end of the Stations coincided with the last stanza of the hymn
I remember an organ and a goodly number of people present for such a small parish in a Protestant town
It is easy to recall the first stanza that sets both the tone and the teaching of the hymn:
Perhaps it was only in the Order that we sang it in Latin
Those words to that music always seemed touchingly sad as they evoked so graphically the scene they described
the Blessed Mother at the Cross of her Son
There is probably a lesson there somewhere
My briefest translation of the same stanza would be
“(The) Sorrowful Mother weeping stood next to the Cross while (her) Son was hanging (there).” The old Catholic Encyclopedia noted that by 1912
there were over 60 translations of this hymn into English
each has composed a score for the “Stabat Mater.”
The “Stabat Mater,” which came into the Roman Missal in 1727
is now used in the Office for the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows
Formerly it was used for the same Feast (Mater Dolorosa) that occurred on the Friday after Passion Sunday (two weeks before Easter) in the Old Liturgy
The writing of his “Stabat Mater,” moreover
had a personal meaning of some considerable poignancy for Dvorak
He and his wife Anna had three infant children
a second (Otakar) of smallpox at about three years of age
after accidentally drinking an acid used for making matches
Dvorak was about 36 at the time his children died and he wrote the music
is very much addressed to the grief of his wife
the voice the second from the last stanza features
It is accompanied by neither chorus nor other soloist
The Christian experience of the “Stabat Mater” bears
without in any way denying the reality of this life
that the glory of Paradise / Be given to my soul,” would be my most jejune translation
But the musical effect is stunning in context
unexpectedly listening to such glorious music
music rooted in the very depths of the human condition and its redemption—the man and wife who lose their first three children (they went on to have six more
to be sure)—at once makes us realize the power and consolation of Christian dogma and its immediacy to life
The reviewer in the Washington Post suggested that even those of differing theologies might grasp the import of this music
let me be defended / On judgment day.” Dvorak understood that we are not alone in such sorrows as his as long as we knew of the Virgin
But again I go back to the sense of sorrow and hope that shines through this remarkably lovely music
you could almost see on the face of one who listens to this music
we are mindful of Saint Paul’s oft repeated idea that we want to see God and one another “face-to-face.”
/ To grieve with thee over the Crucified One
/ As long as I shall have lived.” The translation of this last line in my Ritual is the familiar
“All the days that I may live,” a translation I like
I have in my files the address that the Czech President Vaclav Havel gave to the United States Congress in February of 1990
This was the speech in which Havel re-marked that “the salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart
in human meekness and in human responsibility
Only “human consciousness”—”without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness
nothing will change for the better in the sphere of our Being as humans.” Hope seems focused in this world
“If I subordinate my political behavior to this imperative mediated to me by my conscience
and “consciousness” can reveal merely itself
when he concludes his “Stabat Mater”:
The “Amen” of this music is hauntingly lovely and glorious
almost as if to say that the last thing heard by mortal ears is the first thing for which we shall listen in Paradise
Perhaps it is true to say that we can only bear to speak of “consciousness” when we have ceased in our Parliaments and Senates to be free enough even to speak of the Virgin
it is more likely that the Virgin was more apt to have been the reason Vaclav Havel was free of Marxist rule
free to speak to a Senate wherein speech of the Virgin is not proper even in Czech
than anything “consciousness” ever dreamed of
We dare not speak of these things for they might well be true
Playlist of famous versions of the “Stabat Mater” (Spotify subscription required):
Republished with gracious permission from Crisis magazine (January 1993)
The featured image is “Pietà” (1490) by Pietro Perugino, and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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