Stabat Mater (Haydn)

Stabat Mater
by Joseph Haydn
Portrait of Haydn, 1770
Catalogue	Hob. XXa:1
Text	Stabat Mater
Language	Latin
Composed	1767 (1767)
Performed	17 March 1767 (1767-03-17)
Movements	13
Vocal	soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists and choir
Instrumental	oboes strings basso continuo

Joseph Haydn's Stabat Mater, Hob. XXa:1, is a setting of the Stabat Mater sequence, written in 1767 for soloists, mixed choir and an orchestra of oboe, strings and continuo. The first performance is believed to have taken place on 17 March 1767 at the Esterhazy court.

History

Joseph Haydn set the Stabat Mater sequence in 1767 as his first major sacred composition.[1] The first performance was probably on Good Friday that year, 17 March 1767, at Eszterháza, his employer's palace.

Structure and scoring

Haydn divided the text into 14 movements:[1]

1. Stabat Mater dolorosa, Largo, G minor, common time
2. O quam tristis et afflicta, Larghetto Affettuoso E-flat major, 3/8
3. Quis est homo qui non fleret, Lento, C minor, common time
4. Quis non posset contristari, Moderato, F major, common time
5. Pro peccatis suae gentis, Allegro ma non troppo, B-flat major, common time
6. Vidit suum dulcem natum, Lento e mesto, F minor, common time
7. Eja Mater, fons amoris, Allegretto, D minor, 3/8
8. Sancta Mater, istud agas, Larghetto, B-flat major, 2/4
9. Fac me vere tecum flere, Lagrimoso, G minor, common time
10. Virgo virginum praeclara, Andante, E-flat major, 3/4
11. Flammis orci ne succendar, Presto, C minor, common time
12. Fac me cruce custodiri, Moderato, C major, common time
13. Quando corpus morietur, Largo assai, G minor, common time
14. Paradisi gloria, G major, cut time

He scored it for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, mixed choir, two oboes both doubling English horn in the sections in E-flat major, strings and organ continuo. Conductor Jonathan Green suggests adding a bassoon to double the bass line and perhaps just one player to each string part.[2]

Reactions

Pergolesi's Stabat Mater was already popular when Haydn composed his. Haydn used it as a model in some details, such as the "Vidit suum". According to Heartz, it emulates "Pergolesi in its melodic traits, rhythmic quirks, and thin texture. Haydn, like Traetta, even adapted a feature of Pergolesi's text setting, the breaking up with rests of 'dum e-mi-sit spiritum' in order to convey the last gasps of the dying Christ."[3] Heartz continued: "Hasse was greatly impressed with Haydn's Stabat mater, which must have seemed to him an added vindication of the Neapolitan style [of Pergolesi] that he more than anyone else had brought to flower in central Europe."[4] According to Haydn himself, four performances in Paris were very successful.[5]

Haydn's Stabat Mater is considered suitable for a penitential Good Friday program.[6]

Recordings

• 1979 – Arleen Auger, Alfreda Hodgson, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Gwynne Howell – London Chamber Choir, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, László Heltay – 2 LPs/CD Decca Records
• 1983 – Sheila Armstrong, Ann Murray, Martin Hill, Philippe Huttenlocher – Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Michel Corboz – LP/CD Erato
• 1989 – Patricia Rozario, Catherine Robbin, Johnson, Cornelius Hauptmann – The English Concert & Choir, Trevor Pinnock – CD Archiv Produktion
• 1995 – Barbara Bonney, Elisabeth von Magnus, Herbert Lippert, Alastair Miles – Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt – CD Telarc

References

1. Harasim 2017.
2. p. 4 (2002) Green
3. p. 306 (1995) Heartz
4. p. 307 (1995) Heartz
5. p. 36 (2006) Webster
6. p. 4 (2002) Green

Cited sources

• Harasim, Clemens (March 2017). "Stabat Mater" (PDF). Carus-Verlag. pp. V–VI. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
• Green (2002) Jonathan D. New York A Conductor's Guide to Choral-Orchestral Works, Classical Period: Volume 1: Haydn and Mozart Scarecrow Press
• Heartz (1995) Daniel. New York. Haydn, Mozart, and the Viennese School: 1740 — 1780 W. W. Norton & Co.
• Hugues (1974) Rosemary. London. Haydn. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd
• Schenbeck (1996) Lawrence. Chapel Hill, North Carolina Joseph Haydn and the Classical Choral Tradition Hinshaw Music
• Webster (2006) James. Cambridge "Haydn's sacred vocal music and the aesthetics of salvation" Sutcliffe (editor) W. Dean Haydn Studies Cambridge University Press

External links

• Stabat Mater, Hob.XXa:1 (Haydn, Joseph): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Stabat Mater site