About the composer
Felipe Gorriti y Osambela was born in 1839 in Huarte-Araquil, Navarra, Spain, as the son
of a professional organ player. He started his musical studies at the age of six with his
father, then studied in Pamplona and Madrid. In 1858 he won a prize in a composition
contest, presented to him by Isanel II. In 1859 he became organist at the Santa Maria in
Tafalla, where he developed his love for sacred music. In 1867 he moved to Tolosa,
Gipuzkoa, where he worked as chapel master, leader of the church orchestra, organist and
teacher until his death in 1896. Gorriti was well known, not only for the quantity of his
work (over 300 compositions), but especially for the quality. He won four first prizes in
the contests organized by the International Organization of Organists and Chapel Masters
in Paris. Gorriti composed mainly sacred works, masses, motets, misereres, but composed
some non-religious works too.
| Date | ca. 1871 |
| Performers | Soprano, Alto and organ |
| Length | 8.59 minutes |
| Particulars | The work is not clearly divided into parts. It was composed for the nuns of the Santa Clara cloister in his village and intended to be performed during liturgy. The Stabat Mater is a beautiful, but sad composition, flowing forth in a slow rhythm. |
| Textual variations | The composer used only 9 stanzas of the poem. First we hear stanzas 1 to 8, after which stanza 1 is repeated. The work is then concluded by the final stanza 20. |
| CD | aus_Art_records aAr 027: Musika Klaretarrentzako - Música para las Clarisas |
| About this CD | This record company is devoted to promoting music of
composers from the Basque country in Spain, in this case Felipe Gorriti. The disc is in
honor of the Basque director and organ player Javier Bello-Portu. The music was recorded in 1975 at the Festival Internacional de Loiola. |
| Soloists | Iris Bourne, soprano Shirley Minty, alto Javier Bello-Portu, organ |
| Other works | Agur Doloretako Birginary Tota Pulchra Misa en Re Mayor |
| Added | Unknown GORR 01 |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl