Stabat Mater (Dvořák)

Antonín Dvořák's Stabat Mater, Op. 58, is an extended setting for vocal soloists, choir and orchestra of the 20 stanzas of the Stabat Mater sequence. Dvořák sketched the composition in 1876 and completed it in 1877. It has been characterized as a sacred cantata and as an oratorio, and consists of ten movements of which only the first and the last are thematically connected. Its total performance time is around 85 minutes.[1][2][3][4]

A performance of Dvořák's Stabat Mater in the St. Bonifatius church in Wiesbaden (26 October 2019): Roman Twardy conducting members of the Hessisches Staatsorchester and the St. Bonifatius choir.

The work was first performed in Prague in 1880. N. Simrock published Dvořák's Op. 58 in 1881. In 1882, Leoš Janáček conducted a performance of the work in Brno. The work was performed in London in 1883, and again, in the Royal Albert Hall, in 1884, and thus played a crucial role in Dvořák's international breakthrough as a composer. In the 21st century the Stabat Mater continues to be Dvořák's best known, and most often performed, sacred work.[5][6]

History

How Dvořák started to compose his Stabat Mater in February 1876 as a reaction to the death of his two days old daughter Josefa in August 1875 has often been told, but has been doubted in 21st-century scholarship.[2][7][8][9][10] The sketch was written between 19 February and 7 May 1876, and was dedicated to František Hušpauer "as a souvenir to the friend of his young days."[9][11] On 30 July Dvořák sent his manuscript to Vienna, accompanying an application for a scholarship by the Ministry of Culture and Education.[10] He returned to the final stylisation of the composition in 1877, when his two surviving children died within a short time of each other.[10] The definitive version of the score was written from October to 13 November 1877 in Prague.[9]

Structure
Crucifixion by Evgraf Semenovich Sorokin (1873)

The vocal solos of Dvořák's Stabat Mater are written for soprano, tenor (Tenore), alto and bass (Basso). Together, these voices form the vocal quartet (Quartetto). The choir (Coro) consists of SATB singers. The accompanying orchestra has following instruments: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 4 horns (two in F, two in D), 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, organ and strings.[12]

The approximate duration of the work is 85 minutes.[3][4]

Movements

The first movement is an extended sonata form in symphonic style. It opens with a long orchestral introduction, then repeated with the chorus. A contrasting second theme is introduced by the soloists. A development section leads to the return of the opening material.

The organ has an independent part accompanying the female semichorus in the fourth movement, and is not used otherwise.

Similarly, the cor anglais has a solo line in the opening of the second movement and is otherwise absent. Though not specified in the score, it can easily be played by one of the two oboists, as they are not playing during this section.

The final movement recalls the opening themes of the work, but then turns into the major key for a triumphant Amen fugue of considerable complexity.

Text and movements of Dvořák's Stabat Mater
v. Stabat Mater text # Vocalists Movement
01. Stabat Mater dolorosa 01 Quartetto, Coro Andante con moto
02. Cuius animam gementem
03. O quam tristis et afflicta
04. Quae moerebat et dolebat
05. Quis est homo qui non fleret 02 Quartetto Andante sostenuto
06. Quis non posset contristari
07. Pro peccatis suae gentis
08. Vidit suum dulcem natum
09. Eia Mater, fons amoris 03 Coro Andante con moto
10. Fac, ut ardeat cor meum 04 Basso solo, Coro Largo
11. Sancta Mater, istud agas
12. Tui nati vulnerati 05 Coro Andante con moto, quasi allegretto
13. Fac me vere tecum flere 06 Tenore solo, Coro Andante con moto
14. Iuxta crucem tecum stare
15. Virgo virginum praeclara 07 Coro Largo
16. Fac, ut portem Christi mortem 08 Duo Larghetto
17. Fac me plagis vulnerari
18. Inflammatus et accensus 09 Alto solo Andante maestoso
19. Fac me cruce custodiri
20. Quando corpus morietur 10 Quartetto, Coro Andante con moto
Amen.

Reception
Title page of Novello's edition of the score of Dvořák's Stabat Mater: memento of the performance in Worcester on 12 September 1884, with signatures by Antonín Dvořák and members of the orchestra.

The first performance of Dvořák's Stabat Mater took place on 23 December 1880 at the concert of the Association of Musical Artists in Prague. The performers included the operatic ensemble of the Czech Provisional Theatre, under the conductor Adolf Čech, with the soloists Eleanora Ehrenbergů, Betty Fibich, Antonín Vávra and Karel Čech.[3] Leoš Janáček conducted the work a year and half later, on 2 April 1882, in Brno.[1] A performance in Budapest soon ensued.[1] The work was performed in London in 1883, and again, in the Royal Albert Hall, in 1884, and thus played a crucial role in Dvořák's international breakthrough as a composer.[5] In the 21st century the Stabat Mater continues to be Dvořák's best known, and most often performed, sacred work.[5][6]

Score publications

In 1879 Dvořák suggested his Stabat Mater for publication to Fritz Simrock, but it wasn't until after the successful 1880 Prague première of the work that he got the publisher interested.[13] Simrock suggested to change the original opus number (Op. 28) to a more recent number: the work was published as Dvořák's Op. 56 by the N. Simrock firm in 1881.[13] The publication included a vocal score with a piano reduction by Josef Zubatý.[13][14] Full score and vocal score were published by Novello & Co, in the Novello's Original Octavo Edition series, in 1883.[15][16]

In the second half of the 1950s the Stabat Mater was published as Vol. II/1 of Souborné vydání děl Antonína Dvořáka (SAD, Complete Edition of Antonín Dvořák's Works):[9]

  • The vocal score was published in 1956, with a piano reduction by Karel Šolc.[17]
  • The full score, edited by Antonín Čubr, appeared in 1958.[12] Otakar Šourek wrote the preface of this edition.[9]

In Jarmil Burghauser's thematic catalogue of Dvořák's compositions the Stabat Matar was given the number B. 71.[10] In 2004 there were two new vocal score editions of Dvořák's Stabat Mater:[18]

  • Bärenreiter published a vocal score based on Dvořák's 1876–1877 draft version, edited by Jan Kachlík and Miroslav Srnka.[19]
  • Klaus Döge revised Josef Zubatý's piano reduction, working away discrepancies with the orchestral score.[13]

Carus published Joachim Linckelmann's arrangement of Dvořák's Stabat Mater for chamber orchestra in 2016.[20] The vocal score published with this edition was Petra Morath-Pusinelli's revision of Josef Zubatý's piano reduction.[21]

Recordings

The 1876 version of seven movements for vocal quartet, choir and piano was recorded in 2009 by soloists, the Accentus ensemble, conducted by Laurence Equilbey, with pianist Brigitte Engerer.[29]

References
  1. Šourek & Čubr 2000, p. V.
  2. Šourek & Šolc 2002.
  3. "Stabat Mater" at antonin-dvorak.cz.
  4. Döge & Zubatý 2004, p. 2.
  5. Linckelmann & Berná 2016, pp. IV-V.
  6. Döge & Zubatý 2004, pp. 6–7.
  7. Vaughan 2005.
  8. Dotsey 2018.
  9. Kachlík & Srnka 2004, p. VI.
  10. Döge & Zubatý 2004, p. 6.
  11. Šourek & Čubr 2000, p. VII.
  12. Šourek & Čubr 1958.
  13. Döge & Zubatý 2004, p. 7.
  14. OCLC 246636061. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  15. OCLC 1098699556. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  16. Antonín Dvořák: Stabat Mater, Opus 58, for soli, chorus and orchestra (Novello's 1883 vocal score) at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign website.
  17. Šourek & Šolc 1956.
  18. Döge & Zubatý 2004, pp. 6–8.
  19. Kachlík & Srnka 2004.
  20. Linckelmann & Berná 2016.
  21. Morath-Pusinelli, Zubatý & Berná 2016.
  22. WorldCat entry for Talich recording. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  23. WorldCat entry for Smetacek recording. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  24. WorldCat entry for Shaw recording. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  25. The Classical Catalogue 1992. No. 153, June 1992, General Gramophone Publications Ltd, Harrow, UK
  26. Cookson 2015.
  27. WorldCat entry for Macal recording. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  28. WorldCat entry for Rilling recording. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  29. Clements 2008.

Sources
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