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.[1] 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.[2]
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)
- Cujus animam gementem (Allegro molto--Très violent)
- O quam tristis (Très lent) a cappella
- Quae moerebat (Andantino)
- Quis est homo (Allegro molto--Prestissimo)
- Vidit suum (Andante) soprano solo
- Eja mater (Allegro)
- Fac ut ardeat (Maestoso) a cappella
- Sancta mater (Moderato--Allegretto)
- Fac ut portem (To. de Sarabande)
- Inflammatus et accensus (Animé et très rythmé)
- Quando corpus (Très calme) soprano solo
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.
- Ivry, Benjamin (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.