About the composer
Aaron Garber was born in 1973 in Weyers Cave, Virginia, USA, as the son of a dairy farmer.
He sang in several choirs, completed a B.A. in Music in 1995, and a degree in Choral
Conducting in 2000. Having been a full time farmer for some time, he now devotes himself
to music, as a composer, and as Director of Church Music for the College Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Knoxville. His Stabat Mater was the winning composition of the Raymond
W.Brock Student Composition Competition in 2001 and had its world premiere at the National
Convention of the American Choral Directors Association in March 2001. Aaron Garber is
living in Salem and has a website at aarongarber.com.
| Date | 2000 |
| Performers | Mixed Choir (SATB) |
| Length | 4.49 minutes |
| Particulars | The Stabat Mater is built around the first two words of the three stanzas that are used: stabat mater, eia mater, sancta mater. These words are alternatively sung by the male and female parts of the choir, and provide a kind of underlying "drone" for the melody. This is a very nice effect, reminding me of Tibetan monks reciting their prayers. A the end, the first line of the first stanza comes back to conclude the piece. |
| Textual variations | Only the stanzas 1, 9 and 11 of the text are used. |
| CD | Private registration of a concert performance, which Aaron Garber was so kind as to send to me. |
| About this CD | This is a record of the first performance during the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association in March 2001 in San Antonio. |
| Choir | East Texas Baptist University Choir |
| Conductor | James Moore |
| Other works | Willliam Mathias: Sir Christemas Damijan Mocnik: Christus est natus Michael Praetorius/Jam Sandstrom: Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen Paul Trepte (arr): Celebrons la naissance Ron Staheli (arr): How can I keep from singing Robert Morris (arr): Rockin' Jerusalem |
| Added | 2001 GAR 01 |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl