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Fonteinnes

26-03-2015

DOM Fonteinnes

About the composer

Beforehand: the following text is not about Dom Fonteinnes but about chants. The origin of chant is not known. It seems to have appeared naturally. For centuries no system of notation was developed for this music, and monks learned it orally. In the 8th and 9th century a simple system was developed, where the signs indicate the direction of the melody, but do not define exact pitches or intervals. The majestic solemnity of this music has had a strong influence on European music and still inspires many composers. Gregorian chants are named after Gregory I (590 – 664). It is the official liturgical music in the roman catholic church, a collection of hundreds of chants for all the days of the church year, assembled in Graduale and Antiphonale. Gregory distributed the chants over the days of the year and revised the melodies so that they were more consistent with the words. Gregorian chant is completely homophonic, it is sung without accompaniment and partly consists of reciting singing (accentus), partly of more melodic, sometimes heavily ornamented lyric (concentus). Another difference is in syllabic chants (each syllable has one tone), neumatic chants (most syllables have 2-3 tones) and melismatic chants (still more ornamentation). In the performance three forms are discerned: responsorial (alternating soloist and choir), antiphonal (alternating two choirs) and cantus in directum, when the chant is sung without interruption, either by the believers, or by a choir.
In the beginning of the 17th century the singing of Gregorian chant deteriorated, for a large part caused by a very mutilating edition that came into print, the Medicea-edition. The Benedictine monks of the abbey in the French village of Solesmes, however, took up a thorough study of all old sources and tried to reconstruct the chants as good as possible. The monk Dom Fonteinnes reconstructed the Stabat Mater chant around 1850. An old source of the Stabat Mater chant can be found in the Maintzesch Gesangbuch from 1661.
In the early years of the twentieth century, after centuries of deterioration, Pope Pius X assigned the Benedictine abbey in Solesmes to assemble the reconstructed chants in an official edition of Gregorian chants, called the Editio Vaticana.
An interesting interpretation of the Gregorian Stabat Mater can be found on CD 4 (see below), sung by Noirin Ni Riain in a way that reminds me strongly of the Irish group Clannad. The song consists of the stanzas 1, 9, 19 and 20 of the “Vatican”-text, and she accompanies herself on a drone.
Another interpretation, quite different, is by the Polish jazz pianist Wlodek Pawlik On Good Friday of the year 2000 a concert was organized where monks and nuns sang the Gregorian chants, while Pawlik added his improvisations. The result has been recorded and can be heard on CD 5, a present from Ignace Verberk. He bought this cd in Krakov, Poland.
The Belgian composer Father Jean-Marie Plum composed an adaptation for organ solo of the plain chant Stabat Mater melody: Introduction, Variations et Final sur le Stabat Mater traditionel.

About the Stabat Mater

Date: ca. 1850
Performers:

Male choir (CD 1), Female choir (CD 2), Mixed Choir (CD 3), Female singer (CD 4), Mixed choir (CD 5), Male singers alternating with organ (France, Le Manivelle) (CD 6)

Length: CD 1: 6.25 minutes, CD 2: 5.17 minutes, CD 3: 5.14 minutes, CD 4: 1.38 minutes and CD 5: 6.56 minutes
Particulars:

The melody is the same for all three recordings and should be the official one, but the used texts are in fact mixtures of the "Analecta"- and "Vatican"-versions. On the third CD the use of a mixed choir is, in my opinion, not quite as it was originally meant to be sung. The same can be said of the use of a female choir on CD 2 and of the female singer on CD 4. Extraordinary: on CD 6, after stanza 18 the organ is playing the aria Voi que sapete from Mozarts Le Nozze di Figaro!

Textual variations:

In CD 1 through 5 the text according to "Analecta" is sung, but with following changes:
- Stanza 4, line 2: not "Et tremebat cum videbat" but "Pia Mater, dum videbat" (CD 2, 3)
- Stanza 5, line 2: not "Matrem Christi si videret" but "Christi Matrem si videret" (CD 2)
- Stanza 13, line 1: not "Fac me vere tecum flere" but "Fac me tecum, pie, flere" (CD 1, 2)
- Stanza 14, line 2: not "Te libenter sociare" but "Et me tibi sociare" (CD 1, 2, 3)
On CD 6 only the first line of stanza 1 is sung (solo) and then the even numbers are sung in alternation with the organ playing.

Colourbar

fonteinnes

CD information

CD 1: Virgin 5 45272 2: Stabat Mater
About this CD:

Four completely different settings of the Stabat Mater. A “must” for every collector. The plain chant Stabat Mater was recorded at the St John-at-Hackney Church, London, in January 1993. In my opinion the best and most original performance: sung by men (as it should) and in a quiet tempo. I bought this CD in a record shop in the Netherlands, 1997.

Choir: Taverner Choir
Conductor: Andrew Parrot
Other works:

Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina, Stabat Mater
John Browne, Stabat Mater
Arvo Pärt, Stabat Mater

Code: 1997 PÄR 01

CD 2: Mitra Cd 16 290: Stabat Mater
About this CD:

Another excursion into the world of Stabat Mater settings. As the CD contains 5 Stabat Mater settings, it should be a “must” for every collector, especially as it has the only Gaffori registration that I know of. Recorded at the St.Martinus church, Euskirchen-Kirchheim, in July 1995. The chant is sung by women and the tempo is to fast for my taste. I bought this CD in a record shop in the Netherlands, 1998.

Choir: Frauenschola des Figural Chores Köln
Conductor: Martina Mailänder
Other works:

Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina, Stabat Mater
Franchino Gaffori, Stabat Mater
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, Stabat Mater
Frantisek Ignac Antonin Tuma, Stabat Mater

Code: 1998 GAF-01

CD 3: Vivarte (Sony Classics) SK 45861: Ave Maris Stella, Marienleben im Choral
About this CD:

An interesting concept: The life of the virgin Maria is followed in plainsong, from the immaculate conception to the ascent in heaven. Recorded at the Ursulinenkloster, Niederaltaich, Bavaria, in November 1989. The chant is sung alternatively by female choir and mixed choir. As in CD 2 the tempo is to fast for my taste, almost with a dancing rhythm.

Choir: Niederaltaicher Scholaren
Conductor: Konrad Ruhland
Other works:

Ave Maris Stella
Immaculatio conceptio B.M.V.: Gaudens gaudebo in Domino + Benedicta es tu, Virgo Maria
In nativitate B.M.V.: Ave Maria, gratia plena + Nativitas tua
In annuntiatione B.M.V.: Ave Maria + Ave Maria, gratia plena + Ecce Virgo concipiet
Visitatio B.M.V.: Cum audisset salutationem Mariae + Magnificat + Magnificat
In nativitate Domini: Kyrie-virginitatis amator + Salve sancta Parens + Alma redemptoris Mater
In purificatione B.M.V.: Lumen ad revelationem gentium + Canticum Simeonis + Adorna thalamum tuum
In festo septem dolorum: Stabat sancta Maria + Recordare Virgo Mater
In assumptione B.M.V.: Gaudeamus omnes in Domino + Lectio libri sapientiae + Assumpta est Maria in caelum
Sancta Maria, succurre miseris + Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae

Code: FON-01

CD 4: Sounds True Audio A272: Nóirín Ni Riain, Soundings
About this CD:

A collection of spiritual songs, sung by Noirin Ni Riain in a way that reminds me strongly of the Irish group Clannad. It is preceded by an Ode to Jacopone di Todi, who is, as is widely accepted nowadays, probably not the author of the Stabat Mater poem. Recorded in Dromore House, Newport, Co.Tipperary, Ireland in 1993. I bought this CD in a record shop in the Netherlands, 1999.

Soloists:

Nóirín Ni Riain

Other works:

Irish traditionals and Gregorian chants

Code: 1999 FON-02

CD 5: Polonia Records CD 263: Misterium Stabat Mater
About this CD:

Another interesting concept: A jazz pianist improvises during the singing of chant, in a candle-lit temple from 1682 resulting in a mixture of a religious meeting and a mystery play. Recorded live at the God’s Mother Sanctuary in Tuchow on Good Friday 2000. I bought this CD on the Internet, Ludwigbeck-online, 2003.

Choir: - Schola Gregoriańska Redemptorystów (Monks from the Congregation of the Holiest Redeemer) - Schola Sióstr Slużebniczek Dębickich (Nuns from the convent of the Servants of the Immaculate Conceived Virgin Mother of God in Tuchów).
Soloists:

Wlodek Pawlik, piano
Janusz Sok, piano

Other works:

Ave Maria + Stabant iuxta crucem + Ubi caritas
Oremus + Kyrie
O vos Omnes
Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundem Joannem
Ave Verum
Oremus
Ave Maria

Code: 2003 FON-03

CD 6: Les chantres et la Manivelle (Lidi 0109164-06)
About this CD:

Extraordinary in this Stabat Mater (and other tracks) is the alternating use of organ and singers in plain chant.
From the booklet:
The style of the pieces notated on the perforated rolls of parchment of the
church barrel organ of St-Chaffrey illustrates the ‘present state’ of liturgi-
cal music at the time, which some of the reforming Benedictine monks and
other nineteenth-century musicians unhesitatingly called decadent. They
were quite virulent in their denunciation of secular music, particularly
opera, in worship. They condemned singers who made a habit of accent-
ing each note of the plainchant melody, sometimes likening the result to the
cries of animals! The most flagrant example is the Stabat Mater, in which
the versets played alternately by the organ are really Mozartian operatic
paraphrases, and on one occasion (the twenty-seventh verset) a note for
note transcription of one of Cherubino’s arias!

Choir: Ensemble Vox Cantoris
Conductor: Jean-Christophe Candau
Soloists:

Organ player

Other works:

1 O filii et filae - Procession du jour de Pâques
2 Introduction: Orgue
3 Introït de Pâques (Graduel du diocèse de Lyon, 1750)
4- 12Messe Royale de H. Dumont du 1e" mode.
13 Le Bourbon et la foi (chant et orgue)
14 Te Deum (Livre de chant pour les Messes et les Processions, séminaire de Nancy, 1823)
15 Tout n'est que vanité
16 Hélas, quelle douleur
18 Venez divin Messie
19 Antienne et Magnificat des Vêpres du XI° Dimanche après Pentecôte (Faux bourdons, bibliothèque Imguebertine, XVIIIe siècle)

Code: FON-04

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12th station of he cross in Church Veenhuizen, Drenthe, The Netherlands during cycle trip in Appelscha, July 15th 2020.

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Kruiswegpark in Roermond, very special, during our visit on May 24th 2020.

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Dec 15

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12th station of the cross painted by P. Cornelis de Moor, in St Jans Basiliek, Laren (nh), during performance Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium, December 15th 2019.

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Dec 12

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Autel d' or (Golden Altar), Niki de Saint Phalle (1962). Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen, Holland, December 11th 2019

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Nov 20

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Twelfth station of the cross in Parish Church of Portimão in Portugal, enjoying family time in Ferragudo.
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Oct 21

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12th station of the cross, mosaic in stone, Holy Cross Church in Bloomsbury (London) enjoying a sunday city walk. 
#london #stabatmater #stationsofthecross #stabatmaterdolorosa #sorrowfulmother #holycrosschurch #bloomsbury

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Oct 20

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Trinity church, London, sculpture. Invited  for the premiere of Pieta by composer Richard Blackford in Cadogan Hall. Impressed!
#stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #chelsea #london #sculpture #crucifixion

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Sep 16

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Werner Tübke, Crucifixion scene (1984), chalk litograph on zinc plate.
I made this photo in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, June 22th 2019 during our cycle tour along the Elbe river.

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Aug 9

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12th station of the cross, psinted by Johan Lange from Aken (Germany) 1884-1890.

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Aug 9

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Our Lady of the Basilica, Zwolle. 
#zwolle #crunchyslime #mary #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa

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Aug 9

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Michael Triegel, Deus absconditus (God is hidden). Museum De Fundatie in Zwolle. I  love his paintings.
#triegel #michaeltriegel #mary #crucifixion #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #zwolle #fundatiezwolle

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Aug 9

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Zwolle, Grote kerk of St. Michaels Churc. A vey old sculpture of Crucifixion in the wall, maybe 12th station of the cross. Unfortunately very damaged. Please, could you translate the latin text?
#zwolle #zwollecentrum #oldchurch #stationsofthecross #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa

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Jul 16

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Magdenburg Cathedral June 24th 2019, cycling trip along the Elbe in Germany.
#magdenburg🇩🇪 #mothermary #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #crucifixion #religiousart #stationsofthecross #artstations #sorrowfulmother #motherofjesus #classicalmusic #sacredmusic #pergolesi #golgotha #calvary

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Jul 16

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Paul Sinkwitz, Crucifixion group, tempera draft (1957)  Lutherstadt Wittenberg, exhibition modern Christian Art. #Lutherstadt #Wittenberg #mothermary #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #crucifixion #religiousart #stationsofthecross #artstations #sorrowfulmother #motherofjesus #classicalmusic #sacredmusic #pergolesi #golgotha #calvary  #mary

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Jul 16

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Otto Pankok, Mary and John under the cross, woodcut (1958). Lutherstadt Wittenberg, exhibition modern Christian Art. #Lutherstadt #Wittenberg #mothermary #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #crucifixion #religiousart #stationsofthecross #artstations #sorrowfulmother #motherofjesus #classicalmusic #sacredmusic #pergolesi #golgotha #calvary  #mary #john #woodcutting

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Jul 16

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Marc Chagall, Crucfixion, 1969, (1) and Crucifixion, Mother and Child, 1964 (2). In Lutherstadt, Wittenberg, June 2019, Exhibition Modern Christian Art. #Lutherstadt #Wittenberg #mothermary #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #crucifixion #religiousart #stationsofthecross #artstations #sorrowfulmother #motherofjesus #classicalmusic #sacredmusic #pergolesi #golgotha #calvary #chagall #marcchagall

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Jul 16

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Keith Haring, 1982, Untitled, without Mary. Lutherstadt Wittenberg Exhibition Modern Christian Art.
#Lutherstadt #Wittenberg #mothermary #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #crucifixion #religiousart #stationsofthecross #artstations #sorrowfulmother #motherofjesus #classicalmusic #sacredmusic #pergolesi #golgotha #calvary #keithharing

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Jul 16

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Lutherstadt Wittenberg Exhibition Christian Art from Chagall to Beuys. Willi Baumeister, Crucifixion, Lithograph.
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Jul 15

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Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Crucifixion, 1912, Etching. Mueum Lutherstadt Wittenberg during our cycling trip in Germany, June 2019.

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Jul 15

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Exhibition Lutherstadt Wittemberg Modern Christian Art from Chagall to Beuys. James Ensor, Crucifixio, print 23 from Portfolio Scenes Life of Christ, colour lithograph, 1912-1921.
#religiousart #stabatmaterdolorosa #stabatmater #crucifixion #golgotha

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Jul 15

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Exhibition Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Christian Art from Chagall to Beuys. Georges Rouault, Christ on the cross, 1936, colour aquatint etching.June 21th 2019
#religiousart #golgotha #crucifixion #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #mothermary

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Jul 9

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July 5th, Bremen, Church of our Lady. I noticed groups of little figures in a glass display case showing scenes from the passion of Jesus. They are made by the woodcutters David Guenou and his son Daniel from Togo in Africa. They converted to Christianity in the the sixties when a priest from Bremen was a missionary in Togo. The woodcarving was a present from the Togo Parish. By the way: we loved Bremen during our cycling trip in Germany.
#bremen #woodcarving #crucifixion #religiousart #africanart #stabatmaterdolorosa
#thecross #stabatmater #mothermary

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Jul 9

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Bremen Cathedral, beautiful painting of the crucifixion on the front wall of the church dedicated to St. Peter. July 5th 2019.
#bremencathedral #religiousart #stabatmater #crucifixion #paintings #stationsofthecross #artstations #sorrowfulmother #motherofjesus #religiousart #classicalmusic #sacredmusic #pergolesi

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Jul 4

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In Damnatz, during our cycling trip from Dresden to Hamburg, we stumbled upon this old, timber framed church with a painting of the crucifixion. July 2th 2019
#stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #crucifixion  #religiousart #elb

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Jun 28

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Tangermünde, June 27th 2019, St Stefan's Church. On the baptismal font, as wel as at the baroque pulpit I found a relief of Mary near the cross.

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Jun 28

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St. Jacobi Church in Perleberg, Germany June 28th 2019 during our cycling tour from Dresden to Hamburg. In the wall of the tower is a crucifixion sculpture of sand stone. Though Mary is not present, I just could not resist taking this picture because of the inscription above: ANNO DOMINI MCCCLXI.
#perleberg #stationsofthecross #stabatmater  #religiousart #stabatmaterdolorosa #crucifixion #sculpture #stabatmaterdolorosa

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Jun 8

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Church Museum New Bavo Haarlem. Station of the Cross XII 1920. Artist unknown. 
#stationsofthecross #stabatmater #sorrowfulmother #religiousart

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Jun 8

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Church New Bavo Museum Haarlem, Jan van Scorel 1525.
#calvary #religiousart #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #triptych

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May 2

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Stralsund, Germany, Nicolai Kirche and painting of the Crucifixion in the church.

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May 2

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Family vacation in Germany, May 2019, A trip to Stralsund, Nicolaikirche. Several altars from the 15th century:: (1)Burgermeister-altar with Jesus is taken down from the cross, short after 1500. (2) Altar by Riemer and Betler (1451) and High altar (ca. 1480), Crucifixion by J P Hinze.
#church #art #altar #religiousart #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa

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Apr 28

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Nehringen, Germany, during a family vacation. St. Andreas kirche. Stations of the cross.

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Apr 28

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Stations of the cross-Jesus meets his mother Maria and  Jesus is nailed to the cross- paintings by Jan Wiesman, a Dutch painter. Exhibition in Pop-up Gallery in Bloemendaal. Netherlands.

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Apr 24

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Art stations of the cross Amsterdam 2019: Jesus meets his mother (Station 2). A colorful installation by Lynn Aldrich is made from all sorts of ordinary cleaning tools, such as plastic sponges and brushes.
#stationsofthecross #artstations #sorrowfulmother #motherofjesus #religiousart #classicalmusic #sacredmusic #pergolesi

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Apr 24

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Project Art stations of the cross, number 7: Jesus falls for the second time. Two drawings by Paul van Dongen: Judgement and Resurrection. The Small Museum, Paradiso, Weteringschans 6-8. In 2016 the music venue and cultural center Paradiso, housed in a converted former church building from the nineteenth century, opened The Small Museum. The smallest museum in the Netherlands, it is located in one of the cabinets where the Vrije Gemeente (Free Congregation) used to display its announcements. The exhibitions regularly link to the religious past of the building.
#stationsofthecross #artstations #sorrowfulmother #motherofjesus #religiousart #classicalmusic #sacredmusic #pergolesi

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Apr 24

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Art stations of the cross 2019 Amsterdam. Number 2: Jesus takes up the cross by G. Roland Bierman. De Hoftuin, Nieuwe Herengracht 18.
#mothermary #jesus #thecross #crucifixion #passion #virginmaryartwork #virginmaryart #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #stationsofthecross #artstations #sorrowfulmother #motherofjesus #religiousart #classicalmusic #sacredmusic #pergolesi

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Apr 15

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Art Stations of the Cross 2019 Amsterdam Nr. 6 Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. Güler Ates, Water no longer dances with light, new site specific work. In the Stations of the Cross, Veronica is the woman who helps Jesus persevere. She confronts us with the classic question: In whom do we invest, convinced that the person can make a difference in this world? Who can lean on us? Güler Ates grew up in the mystic tradition of East Turkey. She is based in London and works with video, photography, printmaking and performance. One of the core elements in her work is cultural displacement. She studies the interaction of Eastern and Western cultures.

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Apr 15

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Beginhof Chapel Amsterdam when I wasin Amsterdamwithmy grandson Guidofor the Art Stations of the Cross on monday April 15th.

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Apr 15

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Project Art Stations of the Cross Amsterdam. Nr. 5 Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross. It is the contemplation of the suffering caused by the slave trade, in which traders from Amsterdam were also involved. Iris Kensmil, an artist with a Surinam background, has painted portraits of three eighteenth-century individuals from Surinam who managed to secure for themselves a position and a future in opposition to colonial oppression. (Their actual likenesses are unknown.) Just like Simon of Cyrene, who stopped to help Jesus by carrying his cross, these people resisted injustice. The triptych hangs amongst the group portraits in the Amsterdam Gallery as a call to action.

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The Ultimate Stabat Mater Website is the heritage of my late husband Hans van der Velden. Since his death READ MORE

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Religious background

My observations on the religious background of the Stabat Mater are being handicapped by the fact that I miss a READ MORE

The colourbar

The colourbar, which you will find with almost all compositions, is a graphic representation of the composition. READ MORE

Stabat Mater Foundation

The Stabat Mater foundation was established in 1998 by a number of music lovers. In 2013 they celebrated their READ MORE

In 1997 I created the Ultimate Stabat Mater website for Hans with the program FrontPage. At that time he had around 40 Stabat Mater CDs. His notes on the composer, the music, the texts and translations and the different versions all came online. After this he managed the site by adding new composers and translations regularly. At the time of his death in 2005 he had 211 Stabat Maters. After his death I continued collecting the information and managing the site. I wish to thank the Dutch Stabat Mater Foundation which gave me the financial support in 2014 to renew this site!

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