Stabat Mater (Poulenc)
Stabat Mater is a musical setting of the Stabat Mater sequence composed by Francis Poulenc 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.[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) 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 (though possibly mezzo-soprano), Chorus
- Eja mater (Allegro) Chorus
- Fac ut ardeat (Maestoso) Chorus a cappella
- Sancta mater (Moderato--Allegretto) Chorus
- Fac ut portem (To. de Sarabande) Soprano, 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, Timpani, 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.