In perfect cooperation with Stichting Podia Heemstede, we as the Ultimate Stabat Mater Website foundation organised a benefit concert on Saturday afternoon, April 29th, in the Oude Kerk of Heemstede. The proceeds from the concert will go to one of the ‘Hope and Healing Centers’ shelters for children traumatised by war in the Lviv region …
Stabat Mater by Eugénio Rodrigues
A few years ago, Eugénio Rodrigues from Portugal kindly contacted me about his composition PIETÀ, which premiered in November 2019 in Lisbon by the Nova Era Vocal Ensemble. PIETÀ was the first section of his ESTAVA MÃE (Stabat Mater), which premiered in October 2021. This is the amazing story of his Stabat Mater: It all …
Duo Mignarda: lute player and mezzo soprano
Our cordial contact with Mignarda started in the early years of our Ulimate Stabat Mater Website. Duo Mignarda: Ron Andrico, lute player and Donna Stewart, mezzo soprano from Cleveland, Ohio, one of the few professional lute song duos in the United States, specialised in Renaissance music and poetry by concertising, researching and recording. Recently we …
Stabat Mater from Turkey
Our latest discovery is a Stabat Mater from Turkey by Mr. Ali Riza Saral, titled Stood her in pain, a pseudo religious cantata. The poignant text, English and Turkish, written by the composer himself, incorporates many quotes from the Stabat Mater in Latin. Mr. Saral is from a Muslim family, he wrote to us, so …
New: translation into Afrikaans
In a digital South African magazine, Versindaba (from 2017). We found the 28th language in which the Stabat Mater has been translated: into Afrikaans by Prof. dr. Cas J A Vos. We were struck by the appealing poetry and humanity of this translation. It is a part of a translation (from Latin into Afrikaans) of all …
Seven centuries of music on our YouTube channel
A few years ago, it was my dear grandson Guido who persuaded me to start a real YouTube channel, to promote the Stabat Mater collection. So, in January 2020 we uploaded the first video: the Red Brotherhood in Ceriana (Italy) going through the narrow streets and little alleys of the medieval village while singing Stabat …
Translators, editors, proofreaders wanted!
In March 2022 the Ultimate Stabat Mater Website Foundation published the book, in Dutch, Stabat Mater Dolorosa – a journey through seven ages of music. It covers the story of our Ultimate Stabat Mater Website which started as a personal passion of Hans van der Velden in 1997. Now, 25 years later, we are an …
Unique Stabat Mater Music Calendar 2023
Our latest project is a unique Stabat Mater calendar for composers, musicians and music lovers. Listen to a Stabat Mater composition through a QR code every month! Twelve recordings of the Stabat Mater in various musical styles, such as early music, baroque, classical, jazz and many more. The calendar has photos of paintings, sculptures and …
Johann W. von Goethe and Stabat Mater
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 …
