About the composer
Ennio Morricone was born in 1928 in Rome, Italy on November 10. As the son of a trumpet
player it is not surprising that he started his musical studies in a trumpet class. He
also graduated in instrumentation and composition. Even before that he started composing
background music for radio dramas. In 1965 he received an award for the music for "A
fistful of dollars" and in 1968 he decided to devote most of his time to composing
film music. In this year alone he composed 20 film scores. In 1969 he became world famous
for his music for "Once upon a time in the west". Besides many other awards his
music for "The Mission" and "The Untouchables" got Oscar nominations.
| Date | 1975 |
| Performers | Female choir and orchestra |
| Length | 6.00 minutes |
| Particulars | The Stabat Mater is part of the score for a movie "Il
sorriso del grande Tentatore" (the smile of the great temptator). It is about a group
of people in a secluded house, all struggling with their feelings of sin and guilt, and
guided by a nun obsessed by the need for Catholic perfection and holyness. When a writer
moves into the house, who is convinced of the need for complete spiritual freedom, a
battle of spirits follows. The music is mostly very staccato; each syllable being pronounced explosively, as short as possible, in pace with the thumping music. Through this the stanza is twice sung in a slightly distorted way, like singing under water. |
| Textual variations | Only the first stanza of the poem is used. The soundtrack is divided into six parts, with the exception of the third part each refering to one of the official sequenzes of the Catholic church (Veni sancte spiritus, Victimae paschalis laudes, Lauda Sion, Stabat Mater and Dies Iriae). The third part is based on Beethoven's choral from the ninth symphony. The texts of these sequenzes are mixed in a kind of collage, so that within the Stabat Mater the sentence Veni sancte spiritus is used frequenty, and also the sentence from the Respertorium Domine quando veneris. In the Dies Iriae we hear not only these sentences, but also the text from the Stabat Mater repeated. |
| CD | BEAT CD CR 18: Dall Ardenne all'Inferno/Il Sorriso del grande Tentatore |
| About this CD | Soundtracks of two movie pictures. |
| Performers | Choir and Orchestra |
| Conductor | Ennio Morricone |
| Other works | Sound track of the movie "Dall Ardenne all'Inferno" |
| Added | Unknown (MOR 01) |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl