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Pärt

04-08-2015

Arvo Pärt

About the composer

Arvo Pärt was born in Estonia in 1935. In 1980 he moved to Berlin where he started composing. Pärt uses all possibilities of the twentieth century, still his music is clear and transcendent. His Stabat Mater from 1985 is composed in what he calls his “tintinnabuli” style and brings us back to the liturgical roots: the purity of the thirteenth century. It is created out of respect for silence: the silence at the foot of the cross. What kind of music is suitable at the foot of the cross? As Robert R.Reilly, music critic of Crisis Magazine wrote: “Pärt’s answer is gripping and intensely moving. It is not a study in musical archaism, but a living testimony of belief. This is music to listen to on your knees.”

About the Stabat Mater

Date: 1985
Performers:

Soprano, alto, tenor, and string trio

Length: 29.19 minutes
Particulars:

A pathetic motif of three descending notes is elaborated instrumentally and vocally. The text is sung in a slow recitative and the sparse, open texture of the vocal lines is paralleled by the string parts, heightening the pain and anxiety of the text. The predominant slow motion is interrupted three times by short fast gigs. In the "Amen" at the end the motif from the beginning returns. One of the most beautiful Stabat Maters ever.

Textual variations:

The text according to "Analecta" is sung, with following changes:
Stanza 13, line 1: not "Fac me vere tecum flere" but "Fac me tecum, pie, flere"
Stanza 14, line 2: not "Te libenter sociare" but "Et me tibi sociare"
Stanza 16, line 2: not "Passionis eius sortem" but "Passionis fac consortem"
Stanza 17, line 3: not "Ob amorem Filii" but "Et cruore Filii"

Colourbar

part

CD information

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

Four completely different settings of the Stabat Mater. A “must” for every collector. The Pärt Stabat Mater was recorded at the St Bartholomew’s Church, Orford, Suffolk, in May 1996. I bought this CD in a record shop in the Netherlands, 1997

Orchestra: Fretwork
Conductor: Andrew Parrot
Soloists:

Joanne Andrews, soprano
Deborah Miles-Johnson, mezzo-soprano
Simon Berridge, tenor

Other works:

Gregorian Chant, Stabat Mater
John Browne, Stabat Mater
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Stabat Mater

Code: 1997 PÄR 01

Listen Online

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFbnC_2OOJE

Recent posts

  • A special leaf 02-02-2019
  • Origins of Stabat Mater Latin text 21-01-2019
  • Spirit, Strength & Sorrow 11-10-2018
  • New Stabat: Pormeister-Rips 10-10-2018
  • Rossini 08-10-2018

Donate?

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

Categories

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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