The ultimate Stabat Mater site

a musical journey through the ages...

  • Home
  • Composers
    • Alphabetically
    • Countries of origin
    • Chronologically
    • By duration
  • Texts
    • Stabat Mater text
    • Translations
  • Missing CDs
  • Blog
  • Links
  • Acknowledgements
  • Donate?
  • Contact

Religious background

My observations on the religious background of the Stabat Mater are being handicapped by the fact that I miss a religious background myself. What you read here is a compilation of the information I found in the CD-booklets, encyclopedia and Internet. Some interesting information can also be found in Lateinische Kirchenmusiktexte by Paul-Gerhard Nohl, Bärenreiter-Verlag, ISBN 3-7618-1249-3. Some very interesting thoughts about Marian devotion can be found in a lecture on Theology in Music by Rev.P.Okke Postma, which he kindly sent to me. It also contains a more extended description of Dvořák’s life and his Stabat Mater, as he used this to illustrate his lecture.

Stabat Mater and the bible

The concept of “God” in Christianity is largely male, yet a clearly feminine perspective is also present, namely in two religious texts, the Magnificat and the Stabat Mater. The Magnificat (a biblical text) pictures the joy of Maria at the annunciation of Christ’s birth. The Stabat Mater expresses in its first eight stanzas a deeply felt compassion for the mother of Christ, standing by the cross on which her son hangs. In stanza 2 reference is made to the prophesy of Simeon, who tells Maria: “and a sword will pierce your heart” (Lucas 2, 35). After that, the poet prays fervently to the Madonna to let him share her grief, to let him suffer with Jesus, and for her intercession in order to survive the day of justice. In the last stanza he addresses Christ himself, praying for a place in paradise. A picture of the Stabat Mater can be found in almost every catholic church where the Stations of the Cross are shown. The twelfth Station depicts Jesus on the cross, with Maria and John looking at him.

Stabat Mater as musical inspiration

Both texts have been a source of inspiration for many composers, from medieval times to the present day. Concerning the Stabat Mater, this is really surprising. The text is long, with a rigid form and rhythm, shows little variation from a dramatic viewpoint and is in a sentiment of dejection from the beginning to the end. Could this be the reason that Schubert, after a first try, took a German adaptation of the Stabat Mater as his subject?

Music and Religion

The Stabat Mater in its many musical settings is a fine example of the tension that exists for religious music between the religious message and the artistic expression. Saint Augustine already posed the question if the comforting of the soul in hearing a choral was caused by faith, or by the beauty of the melody. If in the beginning the word had priority in church music, gradually the music itself became more important. In the first part of the 18th century a passionate discussion was started on this subject. There were many who objected against the worldly influences that appeared in the church music, in the form of operatic ensembles, chorals and musical accompaniment. This is understandable, if we, for instance, listen to the famous tenor-aria “Cuius animam” from the Stabat Mater by Rossini. Interpreted by Pavarotti, who will realize what text is being sung there?

Stabat Mater and Liturgy

The earliest established melody of the Stabat Mater is one that ordinary people in Italy sang. Surprisingly, such melodies are still sung in different places, for instance on the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. Examples of these melodies are recorded on several CD’s. See Anonymus (Sardinia).
Set on a, originally Gregorian, melody the Stabat Mater functioned for some time in the catholic liturgy as a sequens, in which every melody was sung only twice, so that every pair of stanzas got a new melody. As a sequens-melody the earliest printed form of the Stabat Mater can be found in the Graduale Romanum Antwerpiae of 1712. However, not with one melody but with several trial melodies, which can be seen as proof that not one definite melody existed.
It was sung on the Friday after Palm Sunday. Also, shorter versions existed as psalm-like songs, that were no part of the daily mass, but that were used by certain celebrations of the liturgical calendar. Technically, the sequens was the addition of text to the final melisma of the Alleluia, as a means of facilitating its memorization. In the 12th century the sequens established itself as an independent piece in which music and text were closely related, and as such it became one of the most influential of all the literary and musical forms of the Middle Ages. During the 16th century the number of sequenses (more than 4500!) had grown in such a way that normal liturgical practice was put under pressure. Another development was that composers in the Renaissance increasingly began to make use of exceedingly complicated polyphony, which certainly did not help listening to the text. This, and the fact that the texts were not taken from the Bible, were the reason that all sequenses, with the exception of four (Victimae paschalis laudes, Veni sancte spiritus, Lauda Sion and Dies Irae), were banned by the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the Stabat Mater included. It was not allowed to be sung during services anymore, but only at other religious manifestations. However, in 1727 it returned definitely in the liturgy by the initiative of Pope Benedict XIII, as fifth sequens in the missal, sung on the third Sunday in September (nowadays on September 15) on the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of our Lady (de Compassione Mariae). In the official liturgy nowadays a nineteenth century version by Dom Fonteinnes is used.

stabatmater.info

View

Oct 29

Open
Stabat Mater by Eric van Boxtel, commissioned by Stabat Mater Foundation in 2008.

stabatmater.info

View

Oct 11

Open
My friend Marten Kuilman from Amsterdam, is painting the stations of the cross. Here is his 12th station of the cross. October 10th 2020, having dinner together.
#stationsofthecross  #stabatmater  #stabatmaterdolorosa #sacredmusic

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 15

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

stabatmater.info

View

Jun 5

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

stabatmater.info

View

Dec 15

Open
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.

stabatmater.info

View

Dec 12

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

stabatmater.info

View

Nov 20

Open
Twelfth station of the cross in Parish Church of Portimão in Portugal, enjoying family time in Ferragudo.
#stationsofthecross #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #Portimão

stabatmater.info

View

Oct 21

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Oct 20

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

stabatmater.info

View

Sep 16

Open
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.

stabatmater.info

View

Aug 9

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

stabatmater.info

View

Aug 9

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

stabatmater.info

View

Aug 9

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

stabatmater.info

View

Aug 9

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 16

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 16

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 16

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 16

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 16

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 16

Open
Lutherstadt Wittenberg Exhibition Christian Art from Chagall to Beuys. Willi Baumeister, Crucifixion, Lithograph.
#Lutherstadt #Wittenberg #mothermary #stabatmater #stabatmaterdolorosa #crucifixion #religiousart #stationsofthecross #artstations #sorrowfulmother #motherofjesus #classicalmusic #sacredmusic #pergolesi #golgotha #calvary

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 15

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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 15

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 15

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 9

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 9

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jul 4

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jun 28

Open
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.

stabatmater.info

View

Jun 28

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Jun 8

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

stabatmater.info

View

Jun 8

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

stabatmater.info

View

May 2

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

stabatmater.info

View

May 2

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Apr 28

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

stabatmater.info

View

Apr 28

Open
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.

stabatmater.info

View

Apr 24

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Apr 24

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Apr 24

Open
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

stabatmater.info

View

Apr 15

Open
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.

stabatmater.info

View

Apr 15

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

stabatmater.info

View

Apr 15

Open
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.

Recent posts

  • A dialogue between Mary and Christ 16-11-2020
  • Stabat Mater on barrel organ 14-11-2020
  • Pergolesi’s dancing Stabat during lockdown 03-11-2020
  • Stabat Mater by Nicola Burnett Smith and Phil Vernon 14-10-2020
  • New: Stephen Paulus 20-09-2020

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!

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2021 · Bouw: Bronwasser Websites in WordPress