Stabat Mater (Poulenc)

"Stabat Mater" is a musical setting of the "Stabat Mater" sequence composed by Francis Poulenc's in 1950. Poulenc composed the piece in response to the death of his friend, artist Christian Bérard; he considered writing a Requiem for Bérard, but, after returning to the shrine of the Black Virgin of Rocamadour, he selected the medieval "Stabat Mater" text. [ Mellers.] Poulenc's setting, scored for soprano solo, mixed chorus, and orchestra, premiered in 1951 at the Strasbourg Festival. The "Stabat Mater" was well-received throughout Europe, and in the United States it won the New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best Choral Work of the year. [ Hell.]

Structure

The "Stabat Mater" is divided into twelve movements, which vary dramatically in character from somber to light and frivolous, even on the most serious of texts.

# "Stabat mater dolorosa" (Très calme) Chorus
# "Cujus animam gementem" (Allegro molto--Très violent) Chorus
# "O quam tristis" (Très lent) Chorus a cappella
# "Quae moerebat" (Andantino) Chorus
# "Quis est homo" (Allegro molto--Prestissimo) Chorus
# "Vidit suum" (Andante) Soprano, Chorus
# "Eja mater" (Allegro) Chorus
# "Fac ut ardeat" (Maestoso) Chorus a cappella
# "Sancta mater" (Moderato--Allegretto) Chorus
# "Fac ut portem" (To. de Sarabande) Chorus
# "Inflammatus et accensus" (Animé et très rythmé) Chorus
# "Quando corpus" (Très calme) Soprano, Chorus

Instrumentation

*Piccolo
*2 Flutes
*2 Oboes
*English Horn
*2 Clarinets (Bb)
*Bass Clarinet
*3 Bassoons
*4 Horns
*3 Trumpets (C)
*3 Trombones
*Tuba
*2 Harps
*Strings
*Soprano Solo
*SATB Chorus (divisi)

References

*Hell, Henri. Francis Poulenc. London: John Calder, 1959.
*Benjamin Ivry(1996). Francis Poulenc, 20th-Century Composers series. Phaidon Press Limited. ISBN 0-7148-3503-X.
*Mellers, Wilfrid. Francis Poulenc. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Notes

External links

[http://www.geocities.com/jrpsong/stabat.html Latin text and English translation]