Almost everyone of us must have heard about the German poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe and his famous work Faust, I suppose. But who did actually know that Goethe in this tragic play, refers to the Stabat Mater text? In Faust he describes the following – medieval – scene: an old stone city wall. Gretchen, a …
Stabat Mater: long and short
People who are familiar with Stabat Mater generally know that Antonin Dvořák composed a Stabat Mater of ninety minutes, the longest Stabat Mater ever. But did you know that the shortest Stabat Mater on our list has only 2:04 minutes? The composer is Charles Haenni from Switzerland and an important part of his work is …
New: Partridge and Lutz
We just added two modern Stabat Mater compositions: Martin Lutz (2007) and Philip Partridge (2015). …Listening to Lutz Stabat you almost forget that the story is about the dreadful suffering and death of Jesus on the cross seen from his mother’s supremely painful point of view. For me it is a “lovely” and intimate composition …
Mr. Michele Bocchini about his Stabat Mater composition:
We just added the Stabat Mater from Michele Bocchini to the website. Mr. Bocchini was so kind to share his thoughts about his composition with us: Although the prayer opens with the scene: the grieving mother stood in tears at the foot of the cross, while her child was hanging, where the lyrics ask to …
Mr. Michele Bocchini about his Stabat Mater composition:Read More
Video Art: Pietà
A gloomy and desolate courtyard with crumbling walls sets the scene. On a table, covered with a sheet, lies a human figure, possibly a dead body. The woman positioned behind the table removes the sheet away revealing a sculpture, made of clay. With care, she takes the arm and hand, molding them into the correct …
New Stabat Mater by Richard Prior
…The Ultimate Stabat Mater website is a wonderful resource for scholars, composers, musicians, academics, theologians, lovers of music who appreciate the subject matter – the list is endless! I applaud your husband’s legacy and your own great efforts to continue the initiative… That’s what Richard Prior wrote to us when he contacted us about his …
Latest additions: Sharafyan, Näther and Argüello
We just added three Stabat Mater composers to our Ultimate Stabat Mater Website. The first one by Vache Sharafyan from Armenia, has been composed for male choir and mezzo-soprano. Mr. Sharafyan was kind enough to share two excerpts of his Stabat Mater with us. His Stabat is dark and intensely sad, the male choir is …
Website about Jacopone da Todi
The monk Jacopone da Todi (ca. 1228-1306) is named as one of the most probable poets of the Stabat Mater poem. In 2021 I visited Mr. Claudio Peri in the city of Todi in Umbria, Italy. Mr. Claudio Peri is an emeritus Professor of Food Science from the University of Milan. He and his wife …
Farewell dialogue Mary and Jesus
O mater, dulcis mater, habeo quid dicam, O mother, dear mother, I have something to tell you. Thus the dialogue begins of Jesus on the cross with his mother Mary. It has been set to music by Wenzel Gunther Jacob, 1685 – 1734. A renowned composer, not only in his own country. Mr. Joop Volp, organ player …
Latest addition: Tyler Versluis
We just added the Stabat Mater by Tyler Versluis. It was composed for the Lenten season at Saint Matthew’s Anglican Church in Etobicoke, Canada in 2022. Like many other composers, his motivation behind composing a Stabat Mater lays in his desire to take part in a tradition, both religious and musical. The gorgeous settings of …
