Stabat Mater (Dvořák)

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The Stabat Mater , op. 58 ( B 71), by the Bohemian composer Antonín Dvořák is a setting of the medieval poem of the same name for soloists, choir and orchestra. The first performance took place on December 23, 1880 in Prague .

history

From February 1874 Dvořák was organist at the Church of St. Adalbert in Prague, which was known for its church music. The director of church music was Regens chori Josef Foerster , who had joined Cecilianism in 1873 and preferred works for choir a cappella or with organ accompaniment instead of orchestral masses. Dvořák viewed these efforts critically, and may have felt challenged to demonstrate the possibilities of text interpretation with orchestral means. He began setting the Stabat mater to music in 1876, six months after the death of his daughter Josefa in September 1875, two days after her birth.

Stabat Mater was his first church music work, apart from compositions during his student days, including two lost masses . It was also the first composition that he began on his own initiative without commission. He wrote a draft with piano accompaniment between February 19, 1876 and May 7 of that year, which contained movements 1-4 and 8-10 of the final work. He broke off work to finish commissioned compositions. He took her back in August 1877 when two more of his children died a short distance apart, the 11-month-old daughter Ružena from poisoning and the three-year-old son Otakar from smallpox. So Dvořák and his wife were initially childless; only later were other children born. In his grief, Dvořák found consolation in the work on the Stabat Mater , which the Blessed Mother Mary deals with in her pain for her crucified son . Dvořák completed the score on November 13, 1877.

The first performance took place on December 23, 1880 in Prague, directed by Adolf Čech with the soloists Eleanora Ehrenbergů , Betty Fibich, Antonín Vávra and Karel Čech. On April 2nd, 1882 Leoš Janáček conducted a performance of the work in Brno . It was also given in Budapest and London. A performance in the Royal Albert Hall , conducted by the composer, made him internationally known.

On the recommendation of Johannes Brahms , the Bonn music publisher Fritz Simrock published the work as Dvořák's Opus 58 - Dvořák himself originally counted the Stabat Mater as his Opus 28. Stabat Mater , Dvořák's first sacred composition, was followed by his Mass in D major, Op. 86, the Requiem , Op. 89, and Te Deum , Op. 103. Stabat Mater , along with his 9th Symphony and Slavonic Dances , remained one of his most popular works, which is frequently performed and recorded.

music

Christ on the cross with Mary and John by Rogier van der Weyden

The composer structured the poem in ten sentences. He used four vocal soloists, soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B), a four-part choir (SATB), a symphony orchestra and organ.

The ten movements highlight various aspects of poetry. You look at Maria's suffering and the viewer's compassion in a contrasting use of cast, tempo and key. The music in the last movement takes up themes from the first movement as a framework for the entire composition. The vocal line-up is varied, from single solo singing to various combinations of solo parts, a solo part with choir, choir alone to all voices in the first and last movements.

The following table of movements shows the beginning of the text, the singing parts, the tempo designation of the beginning, the measure and the key according to their number.

Sentences of the Stabat Mater
No. title be right tempo Tact key
1 Stabat Mater SATB SATB Andante con moto 3/2 B minor
2 Quis est homo SATB Andante sostenuto 3/4 E minor
3 Eja, Mater SATB Andante con moto 4/4 C minor
4th Fac, ut ardeat cor meum B SSAATB largo 4/8 B flat minor
5 Tui nati vulnerati SATB Andante con moto, quasi allegretto 6/8 E major
6th Fac me vere tecum flere T TTBB Andante con moto 6/8 B major
7th Virgo virginum praeclara SATB largo 3/4 A major
8th Fac, ut portem Christi mortem ST Larghetto 4/8 B minor
9 Inflammatus et accensus A. largo 4/4 D minor
10 Quando corpus morietur SATB SATB Andante con moto 3/2 B minor

sentences

The first two sentences illuminate the suffering of the mother who saw her son die on the cross. Sentences 3 to 8 emphasize the viewer's desire to suffer, cry and mourn with her. The last two sentences turn to a view of paradise.

"Stabat Mater"

The first movement sets the first four stanzas of the poem to music, beginning with Stabat Mater dolorosa ("Es stood the mother full of sorrow"), for choir, the soloist quartet and the entire orchestra. The extended movement is based on the classical sonata form . It begins with a long instrumental introduction that introduces topics . At first the tone f sharp sounds softly in different heights and instruments. A first theme emerges from this with a predominantly chromatic falling line. The choir picks up themes while the soloists respond with contrasting themes. An implementation is followed by a recapitulation at the beginning. The choir and soloist quartet develop individual dramatic outbursts on the basis of meditative grief.

"Quis est homo"

The second movement is sung by the soloist quartet. He sets verses five to eight to music, beginning Quis est homo, qui non fleret ("Who is the person who would not cry"). The alto begins, and the dark timbres also predominate in the orchestra, based on the example of A German Requiem by Brahms.

"Eja, Mater"

In the third movement, the ninth stanza is sung by the choir, Eja, Mater, fons amoris (“Oh mother, source of love”). It is reminiscent of a funeral march. In the middle part, Maria is implored urgently to let the viewer empathize with her pain.

"Fac, ut ardeat cor meum"

In the fourth movement the bass soloist sings the tenth verse, Fac, ut ardeat cor meum (“Mach that burns my heart”). He is answered by a choir of four female voices, accompanied by the organ, to which male voices only appear later, with the 11th stanza, Sancta mater, istud agas (“Holy Mother, do this”).

"Tui nati vulnerati"

The fifth movement, again sung by the choir, sets the 12th stanza, Tui nati vulnerati (“The torments of your wounded son”) to music in a swinging 6/8 time.

"Fac me vere tecum flere"

In the sixth movement, the tenor soloist and a four-part male choir alternately sing the 13th and 14th verse, Fac me vere tecum flere (“Let me truly cry with you”) is sung alternatively by the solo tenor and a four-part men's choir. The music begins like a folk song, intoned by the lead singer and repeated by the choir. The request to be able to persevere is intensified by strong accents in the orchestra.

"Virgo virginum praeclara"

The seventh movement is sung partially unaccompanied by the choir. It deals with the 15th stanza, Virgo virginum praeclara ("Virgin of the Virgins"). He expresses the veneration of Mary in a simple homophonic sentence.

"Fac, ut portem Christi mortem"

The eighth movement is a duet by soprano and tenor over the 16th and 17th stanzas, Fac, ut portem Christi mortem (“Let me carry Christ's death”). High string sounds express rapture.

"Inflammatus et accensus"

In the ninth movement, the 18th and 19th stanzas are sung by the alto , Inflammatus et accensus (“ Entflammt und inflamed”). The music contrasts romantic feelings with a bass line that is reminiscent of baroque music.

"Quando corpus morietur"

Dress rehearsal for Stabat Mater in St. Bonifatius , Wiesbaden, on October 25, 2019, with Maria under the cross in the background

The last movement sets the last stanza to music, beginning with Quando corpus morietur (“When the body will die”), which asks for the glory of paradise ( paradisi gloria ) for the soul. The movement takes up themes from the first movement and is played like this by all participants. It flows into a lively, complex fugue based on baroque models on the word "Amen". In an a cappella block, the choir summarizes the text again before the work ends with a spherical “Amen”.

Recordings (selection)

Web links

Commons : Stabat Mater  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Lucie Harasim Berná: Foreword to Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) / Stabat Mater / op.58 . Pp. 2-3. September 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Klaus Döge: Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) / Stabat mater Op. 58 / Urtext edited by Klaus Döge (solos, ch, orch) duration: 86 ' . Breitkopf & Härtel . Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Friedemann Winter: Antonín Dvořák / Stabat Mater op.58 . Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) / Stabat mater Op. 58 / for solos, choir and orchestra / for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra / op. 58 . Breitkopf & Härtel, 2004.
  5. ↑ Till Böttcher: Foreword to Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) / Stabat Mater / op.58 . Pp. 4-17. March 30, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  6. ^ WorldCat Talich
  7. ↑ WorldCat Smetacek
  8. ^ WorldCat Shaw
  9. ^ The Classical Catalog 1992. No. 153, June 1992, General Gramophone Publications Ltd, Harrow, UK
  10. ↑ a b c d Michael Cookson: Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) / Stabat mater ( English ) December 2015. Retrieved on September 9, 2019.
  11. ^ WorldCat Macal
  12. ^ WorldCat Rilling