Stabat Mater (Szymanowski)
| Stabat Mater | |
|---|---|
| by Karol Szymanowski | |
The composer
|
|
| Catalogue | Op. 53 |
| Text | Stabat Mater |
| Language | Polish |
| Composed | 1925-1926: Warsaw |
| Movements | six |
| Vocal |
|
| Instrumental | orchestra |
Karol Szymanowski's Stabat Mater, Op. 53, was composed in 1925 to 1926 for soprano, alto and baritone soloists, SATB choir, and orchestra. The work is divided into six movements and uses Jozef Janowski's (1865–1935) Polish translation of the Marian hymn, Stabat Mater.
Szymanowski's first composition on a liturgical text, Stabat Mater was written during his late Nationalist period of 1922–1937, characterized by his use of Polish melodies and rhythms. Following a trip to Zakopane in 1922, Szymanowski wrote of Polish folk music: "[it] is enlivening by its proximity to Nature, by its force, by its directness of feeling, by its undisturbed racial purity." Szymanowski's pairing of Polish musical elements with a liturgical text in Stabat Mater is unique, and a clear reflection of his Nationalist convictions as a composer.
First commissioned in 1924, Princess Edmond de Polignac requested "a piece for soloists, choir, orchestra (perhaps with Polish text) – a kind of Polish requiem." Teresa Chylińska indicates Szymanowski's intentions for the piece: "a type of peasant requiem – something peasant and ecclesiastical, naively devotional, a sort of prayer for souls – a mixture of simple-minded religion, paganism and a certain austere peasant realism." Szymanowski and the Princess lost touch, thus the commission lost momentum. However, later that year thoughts on such a composition were revived when Warsaw industrialist Bronisław Krystall commissioned Szymanowski for a work in memory of his late wife. In addition, circumstances in the composer's personal life also served as an inspiration for the work. Upon the death of his niece, Alusia Bartoszewiczówna, in January 1925, the composer spent time consoling his sister in her loss, subsequently choosing to set the Stabat Mater text, with its profound reflection on the "grieving mother." External circumstances also served as motivation for the work, including financial need, although there is no evidence of the composer receiving compensation for this work.
...
Wikipedia