About the composer
John Caldwell was born in Bebington, England, in 1938.
He studied Music at Oxford and after a period of teaching at Bristol University
he returned to Oxford in 1967. During his studies he composed chamber music and
choral music. He published the "Oxford History of English Music". His
opera-oratorio Good Friday was composed for the chapels of three Oxford
Colleges. The first performance took place in these chapels and the scenes were
connected by outdoor processional music for voices and transportable
instruments.The texts are from the Gospel of St.John, as well as from the
Catholic liturgy, and other sources. The music is mostly tonal, and contains
pieces of plainsong and other musical influences. Interesting is that the texts
sung in Latin are sometimes simultanuously spoken in English.
| Date | 1997 |
| Performers | Soloists, mixed choir and orchestra. |
| Length | 2.26 minutes |
| Particulars | The Stabat Mater text appears in track 16 "Stabant autem juxta crucem". The narratar tells the story about Jesus recommending his mother to a disciple and telling his mother that he will be her son, as it appears in the St.John Gospel, while the choir sings the first four stanzas of the Stabat Mater poem. |
| Textual variations | The first four stanzas from the "Vatican"-version are used. |
| CD | Guild GMCD 7178: John Caldwell - Good Friday |
| About this CD | Recorded in Exeter College Chapel and St.Silas,
Kentish Town in 1999. My friend Ignace Verberk bought this CD for me in Germany in 2003. |
| Orchestra | Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia |
| Choir | The Choir of Lincoln College, Oxford |
| Conductor | Benjamin Nicholas |
| Soloists | Sophy Harford, soprano Philip Gaunt, tenor Benedict Linton, tenor |
| Other works | Good Friday, complete |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl