About the composer
Alexander Litvinovsky was born in 1962 in Minsk, Belorussia. He graduated from
the Belorussian Academy of Music in 1987 and received a post graduate degree in
1991. His music is influenced by Strawinsky, but also by music from the Baroque,
classical and Romantic periods, and therefore ranges from the traditional to
avant-garde. This is what he has to say about his Stabat Mater:
From all the images of the Holy Scripture, I admire most the image of the
God's Mother. She attracts me with her surprising light and restrained tragic
elements. Embodying an image of her in music, I aspired through this unearthly
source of inspiration to comprehend and to open the depth and sanctity of living
human feelings.
Music of Alexander Litvinovsky can be heard at his site
http://litvinovsky.iatp.by/ including
parts of the Stabat Mater. In this case it is a version for mezzo-soprano and
chamber orchestra.
| Date | 1998 |
| Performers | Mezzo-soprano and organ. |
| Length | 34.05 minutes |
| Particulars | The Stabat Mater is divided into 10 parts. To my ears it does not sound "modern" at all, but more or less "gothic". Simple melodies are used, but still the dark voice of the mezzo and the church organ create an ominous atmosphere. I liked it very much. |
| Textual variations | The "Vatican"-version of the text is followed for the first 17 stanzas; for stanza 18-20 the "Analecta"-version is used. The stanzas are shuffled a bit. In part three stanza 11 comes before 10 and is repeated after that. In part 5 stanza 14 comes before 13. Stanza 15 concludes part 5, but appears again separately as part 7. Finally, the "Amen" is developed into a part of its own. |
| CD | MusicBuilder.com MB-ACD-29213 2411-1: Alexander Litvinovsky, Stabat Mater |
| About this CD | This is a recording of the work performed by
mezzo-soprano and church organ. Alas, the CD insert offers no data about
where or when it was recorded, nor who the performers are. In the version
with chamber orchestra the mezzo-soprano is Dzamilia Amandurdyjeva, so
probably it is she who sings on the CD recording, too. I bought this CD on the Internet, MusicBuilder.com, 2003 |
| Added | 2003 (LIT 01) |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl