About the composer
Eitan Steinberg is one of Israel's most prominent and active composers. He
was graduated from the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music, and continued his
studies at the Chigiana Academy in Siena, Italy. He received his Ph.D. in Music
Composition from the University of California at Berkeley, where he taught as a
Visiting Lecturer in 1999. As a man who grew up in Israel, studied in Italy and
California and then returned to live, compose and teach in Israel - his music
embodies the convergence of different cultures and is inspired by traditional
and folk materials from around the world. His collaboration with his wife,
vocalist Etty Ben-Zaken has yielded more than twenty vocal works premiered by her
in Israel and the U.S., many of them with polylingual texts, from Hebrew and
Arabic to Turkish and Indonesian. Mr. Steinberg is head of Haifa Univesity's
Music Department and winner of Israel's 2007 Prime Minister's Composition
Award.
About the Stabat Mater
| Date | 2004 |
| Performers | Female voice, string quartet and sound track |
| Length | 30 minutes |
| Particulars | This piece - Stabat Mater, a Human Prayer- is a contemporary interpretation from the medieval Stabat Mater text about the loss of sons in war. It was commissioned by and premiered at the Voice of Music Festival in Upper Galilee, Israel in August 2004. The composition can be performed either as a concert piece, or as a fully staged work. Several texts are used. The texts are tied together by an original folk-like tale, telling of loss and mourning, healing and hope. |
| Textual variations | Only two excerpts from the original Latin text
are used - Filius - Stabat Mater dolorosa - Lacrimosa - Dolentem cum Filio and - Eia Mater, fons amoris - Me sentire vim doloris - Fac ut tecum lugeam - Vidit suum dulcem natum - Moriendo desolatum. The piece includes texts in Hebrew, Arabic, English and Ladino. There are also two folk songs: a Judeo-Spanish lament in Ladino, traditionally sung in mourning days, and an American war ballad, based on an Irish folk tune. |
Colourbar
As the original latin text has not been used, there is no colourbar.
| CD | |
| About this CD | Not an official recording. Mr. Eitan Steinberg was so kind to send me the cd. Thank you very much! It was recorded live at the premiere, in August 2004 in Israel. It is very moving to listen to.See also: http://www.benzaken-steinberg.com/ . |
| Orchestra | Israeli Contemporary Quartet |
| Choir | |
| Soloists | Etty Ben-Zaken, (also: text, set
design, staging) |
| Conductor | |
| Added | March 2009, STEI 01 - 229 |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl