Eugénio Rodrigues
About the composer
Eugénio Rodrigues is a Portuguese composer of new music – born in Portugal (Lousã) and having lived and done his musical studies in the US (Western Connecticut with Richard Moryl and Howard Rovics, Yale University with Martin Bresnick, Duke University with Scott Lindroth) and in Holland (Hague Conservatory with Louis Andriessen). Eugénio’s interest in writing music started when, already working as an auto mechanic, oily fingers and all, he began taking piano and music lessons.
He was awarded First Prize in the 1994 Washington International Competition for Composers for his string quartet Mata Hari. His music has been performed and commissioned by the Portuguese National Ballet, American Dance Festival, Arditti Quartet, Ciompi Quartet, Chicago Ensemble, Dale Warland Singers, Ives Chamber Orchestra, Minneapolis Vocal Consort, New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, ISCM World Music Days, Schola Cantorum of Oxford, Ricercare Choir, Lacerda Quartet, Expo ’98, Cistermúsica and Gulbenkian Foundation and Nova Era Vocal Ensemble.
More info about Eugénio Rodrigues can be found on his website: http://eugeniorodrigues.com/
About the Stabat Mater
| Date: | 2021 |
| Performers: | Mixed choir a capella |
| Length: | 33.24 minutes |
| Particulars: | Eugénio Rodrigues drew inspiration from the paintings of Paula Rego, who portrayed moments in the life of Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus, in a hyper-naturalistic and contemporary way. Rodrigues came up with the idea to compose a Stabat Mater in the same spirit as the pastels, with each musical section somehow relating to each of those canvases. In 2019, Rodrigues composed the first section, Pietà (section six). He completed his work, Estava Mae, in 2021, with seven parts: Annunciation, Nativity, Adoration, Flight, Lamentation, Pietà, and Assumption. |
| Textual variations: | Rodrigues decided not to use the Latin text. Inspired by the painter Paula Rego and the contemporary nature of her work, he opted to search for more recent texts instead. He discovered beautiful poems by Miguel Torga, a 20th-century Portuguese poet, that fit his purpose, as well as poems by other Portuguese authors. The work consists of seven parts, with only the last section having no text: 1 Annunciation, lyrics by José Tolentino Mendonça |
| Colour bar: |
No colourbar as the Latin text was not used. |
Information about the recording
| Video: | ESTAVA MAE – Stabat Mater Eugenio Rodrigues |
| More info: | Mr. Eugénio Rodrigues was kind enough to share the recording with me. On our YouTube channel, you can not only watch the first performance from October 2021, but also watch the pastels by Paula Rego and read the texts by several Portuguese poets. |
| Choir: | Nova Era Vocal Ensemble (NEVE) |
| Conductor: | João Barros |
| Code: |
Listen
About the Stabat Mater
| Date: | 2021 |
| Performers: | SATB Choir acapella |
| Length: | 33.24 minutes |
| Particulars: | |
| Textual variations: | The Latin text has not been used. Rodrigues has used several poems of different poets passend bij het onderwerp van het deel. |
| Colour bar: |
No colourbar as no Latin text has been used. |
