Vocal, Mixed Choir and
Orchestra
SKU:
BT.PWM5447
For
Soprano, Alto, Baritone,
Mixed Choir and
Orchestra. Composed
by Karol Szymanowski.
Classical. Book Only.
Composed 2000. 68 pages.
Polskie Wydawnictwo
Muzyczne #PWM5447.
Published by Polskie
Wydawnictwo Muzyczne
(BT.PWM5447).
''Stabat
Mater'' by Karol
Szymanowski for solo
voices, chorus and
orchestra, Op. 53, is one
of the most famous and,
at the same time, most
personal works of the
composer, making its
appeal to the audience
through the depth of its
expression and sheer
artistry. The first
sketches of the work were
made in the spring of
1925, while work on the
full score occupied the
composer from 20 January
to 2 March 1926. Józef
Jankowskis Polish
translation of the
medieval sequence formed
the basis of the
composition. This text,
which was simple in a
folk-like way, devoid of
pathos but full of
religious zeal,
harmonized perfectly from
the poetic point of view
with the composers
creative design. In an
interview for the monthly
Muzyka Szymanowski
stated: ''in its Polish
vestments that eternal,
naive hymn was filled for
me with its own immediate
expressive content; it
became something painted
in colours which were
recognisable and
comprehensible as
distinct from the black
and white of the archaic
original'' (''A Footnote
to Stabat Mater'', Muzyka
1926, Nos. 11/12). In the
score, the Latin text is
given beside the Polish
text, making it possible
for the work to be
performed more easily by
foreign performers. In
this work, the universal
tradition of the
Christian church was
fused with the Polish
religious tradition. The
composer creates the
religious folk-like
climate primarily through
the character of the
melodies which are akin
to to the plainchant
melodies to the text of
Stabat Mater (the
sequence, and especially
the hymn) and their
paraphrases in Polish
religious songs (e.g. Sta
a Matka Bole ciwa [The
Dolorous Mother was
standing]) as well as
motifs from Polish Lenten
songs and Gorzkie ale
(Bitter Laments).
Szymanowski did not
introduce them as
quotations, but
intersperses the melodic
lines, which are more
fully developed and
frequently highly
chromatic, with diatonic
phrases, based on modal
scales. They appear in
all the movements of the
work determining its
cohesion. In dividing the
twenty-stanza text into
separate segments,
Szymanowski created a
six- movement cantata. He
took care to distinguish
between the emotional
shades of the various
movements, varying his
selection of solo voices
(soprano, contralto,
baritone), the voices of
the chorus (female or
mixed) and the orchestral
forces. In the first and
third movements the
lyrical idiom prevails;
the first movement,
portraying the Mother of
God at the foot of the
cross, has a narrative
character, whereas the
third is a kind of prayer
from a man who
sympathizes with, and who
wishes to be associated
with Mater Dolorosas
pain. In these movements
only the female voices
are used (soprano,
contralto and female
chorus), while the
orchestra is employed in
a chamber style,
sometimes drawing on solo
accompanying parts (e.g.
the beginning of the
third movement). The
fourth movement, which
continues the mood of
prayerful contemplation,
is designed for soprano
and contralto solo as
well as unaccompanied
chorus. On the other
hand, the second and
fifth movements,
involving the
participation of solo
baritone and the full
chorus and orchestra, are
similar with regard to
forces and their dramatic
character, which is
austere in expression,
harsh in tone, and
markedly dissonant. Here
grand climaxes appear
with powerful orchestral
tutti. The sixth movement
crowns the whole. The
lyrical, soft melody of
the solo soprano at the
beginning is gradually
strengthened by the
addition of the female
chorus and the solo
contralto, and in the
final section, the solo
baritone as well as the
tutti of chorus and
orchestra. The
conclusion, subdued and
full of concentration,
suggests the introvert
character of the
experience as opposed to
its dramatic pathos.
Stabat Mater by
Szymanowski is part of a
long tradition of
compositions based on the
text of the medieval
sequence - ranging from
polyphonic works by
Josquin des Prés and
Palestrina to the
romantic Stabat by
Giuseppe Verdi and Anton
n Dvo ák. And it was
perhaps because of his
consciousness of this
tradition that
Szymanowski used
stylizing devices in the
spirit of early music.
The archaization
manifests itself not only
in the character of the
melodies and their modal
framework, but also in
the harmonies (with their
predominance of triads,
open fourths and fifths
chords and doubled
thirds), the simple
rhythms as well as the
texture of the choruses
(esp. the fourth
movement). The composer
does not, however,
imitate the style of any
specific historical
epoch, but combines
resources taken from
early music with modern
tonal and harmonic
techniques. Archaization
in Stabat Mater serves,
moreover, a symbolic
function; in evoking the
many-centuries old
tradition of church
music, it emphasizes the
universal nature of the
idea contained in the
text of the sequence,
while the re-reading of
the text by the composer
gives the work its
individual features.
[Zofia Helman, translated
by Ewa Cholewka].