About the composer
Nicolás Ledesma was born in 1791 in Grizel, Zaragoza, Spain. At the age of six he lost
both his parents, who were killed by soldiers from Napoleon Bonaparte. He started his
musical studies in Zaragoza. In 1810 he became a chaplain in Tafalla and in 1830 he became
chaplain and organist at the Basilisk Santiago in Bilbao, where he worked till 1865. He
composed 2 Stabat Mater's, 6 masses and a number of works for piano. Ledesma died in
1883.
| Date | 1837 |
| Performers | Soprano, Tenor, Bass and orchestra |
| Length | 44.31 minutes |
| Particulars | The work is divided into 12 parts. It was dedicated to the nuns of the Santa Clara cloister in Durango and intended to be performed during liturgy. Indeed, for 70 years it has been sung twice a year in the Bilbao cathedral. The Stabat Mater is characterized by simple, easy to listen to melodies, genrally flowing forth in a slow rhythm. |
| Textual variations | The composer used the "Analecta"-version of the text (though the CD-insert prints the "Vatican"-text). The final "Amen" is omitted. The only other deviation is found in Stanza 16, line 2: not "Passionis eius sortem" but "Passionis fac consortem" |
| CD | aus_Art_records aAr 025: Nicolás Ledesma, Stabat Mater |
| About this CD | This record company is devoted to promoting music of
composers from the Basque country in Spain, in this case Nicolás Ledesma. The disc is in
honor of the Basque director and organ player Javier Bello-Portu. The music was recorded in the Basilica de Loiola, August 1983. |
| Orchestra | Orquestra del Festival Internacional de Loiola |
| Conductor | Javier Bello-Portu |
| Soloists | Paloma Perez-Iñigo, soprano Juan Miguel Echarri, tenor Ricardo Salaberria, bass |
| Other works | |
| Added | Unknown (LES 01) |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl