About the composer
Brian Schober was born in New Jersey, USA, in 1951. He studied composition and organ at
the Eastman School of Music and, based on a grant by the French government, studied in
Paris with Olivier Messiaen and others. His career, as an organist as well as composer,
has been a successful one, as is proven by the many prizes and awards he received, for
instance from the French Cultural Ministry and the American Music Center. Though his music
is in a modern idiom, he clearly finds his inspiration frequently in the past, as is
proven by vocal works like the Stabat Mater, a Te Deum, a Missa Brevis, and organ works
like Victimae pascali laudes en Toccatas and Fantasias. He has composed works for other
instruments like piano, violoncello and marimba and seems to have a special love for
percussion, as percussionists often play an important part in his work.
| Date | 1994 |
| Performers | Mixed female chorus, three percussionists and soprano saxophone |
| Length | 22.02 minutes |
| Particulars | As far as I can hear the work is divided into 8 parts. It has an unique quality by the contrast of the women's voices with the percussionists. After quiet opening sections an emotional outburst follows in the stanzas where Jesus dies. Then again some quieter sections, embedded in sorrowful notes from the saxophone, brings us to the end. |
| Textual variations | The "Analecta"-version of the text is used, but
with the following changes: - Stanza 4, line 2: not "Et tremebat cum videbat" but "Pia mater, cum videbat" - Stanza 13, line 1: not "Fac me vere tecum flere" but "Fac me tecum pie flere" - Stanza 16, line 2: not "Passionis eius sortem" but "Passionis fac consortem " - Stanza 17, line 3: not "Ob amorum Filii" but "Et cruore Filii" |
| CD | Ethereal Records ER-125: The music of Brian Schober |
| About this CD | Recorded at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, New York, in
March 2000 Ordering information: www.etherealrecordings.com |
| Choir | The New York Treble Singers |
| Conductor | Virginia Davidson |
| Soloists | James Baker, Frank Cassara, James Preiss, percussion Danny Trimboli, soprano saxophone |
| Other works | Te Deum for mixed chorus and prepared piano Victimae pascali laudes (4 works for organ, played by the composer) Toccatas and Fantasias (12 works for organ, played by the composer) |
| Added | Unknown (SCHO 01) |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl