STABAT MATER Op. 58 Antonin Dvořák (September 8, 1841- May 1, 1904) Composed 1876 – 1877
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1 San Jose State University Doss-Johnson Doss-Johnson Doss-Johnson STABAT MATER Op. 58 Antonin Dvořák (September 8, 1841- May 1, 1904) Composed 1876 – 1877 Brigitte Doss-Johnson MUS 242 Dr. Jeffrey Benson May 20, 2016 2 A choir may have two to five concerts per year. One of those concerts may be devoted to a large work that takes over an hour to perform. At the rate of one per year, opportunities to sing and conduct large works are small. Some large works have been able to be enjoyed through representative movementsDoss-Johnson of shorter duration such as “He Watching Over Israel” from Mendolssohn’s Elijah, “Christ is Risen” from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus, “Awake the Harp” from Haydn’s Creation, and “The Shepherd’s Farewell” from Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ. Dvořák’Doss-Johnsons Stabat Mater lasts near ninety minutes. Even in situations where a choir performed the entire piece, the likelihood of repeating it in ten to fifteen years would be slim. In addition to Doss-Johnsonscheduling considerations, a choir may not have the vocal stamina, access to a venue with chairs, or the level of musicianship to perform entire large works. This paper will examine how Dvořák’s Stabat Mater may be performed as a partial work and set criteria for determining what sections of the Stabat Mater would fit smaller time constraints. The benefits for this approach are increased exposure, more variety in text and composers, and broader education for the conductor, vocalist, and audience. First a history of this piece, and the text will be given. Second, each movement will be analyzed for performance factors and mood. Third, suggestions for partial performances will be discussed. History of Dvořák’s Stabat Mater In 1875, when Dvořák was thirty-three years old, his third child born in August, died after two days of life. He sketched out the Stabat Mater between February 19 and May 7 of the following year but did not finish it. On August 13, 1877, his eleven-month-old daughter died from swallowing a solution of phosphorous, something used for making matches. Twenty-six 3 days later, on Dvořák’s thirty-sixth birthday, his three-and-a-half-year-old son died of smallpox.1 He and his wife became childless at this time but would have six more who lived beyond childhood.2 Dvořák finished the Stabat Mater on November 13, 1877. Steinberg claims this is Dvořák’s Kindertotenlied.3 The first performanceDoss-Johnson of Stabat Mater was at a concert two days before Christmas 1880, a mismatched time of year for this text, but was the anniversary of the Association of Musical Artists inDoss-Johnson Prague to whom Dvořák dedicated the piece to, conducted by Adolf Čech.4 On April 2, 1882, it was performed in Brno, conducted by Leos Janáček, then later that year on May 29, in Mladá Boleslav, conducted by František Hruška.5 Three days later, the Stabat Mater went abroad Doss-Johnsonto Budapest under the baton of Imre Bellovits.6 On March 10, 1883, Joseph Barnby conducted the Stabat Mater at Royal Albert Hall in London, which prompted excited interest in Dvořák. In March of 1884 he conducted the Stabat Mater in London and returned often for his works to be performed. His popularity in England led him to eventually receiving an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University in 1891.7 The Stabat Mater was first published in Berlin by N. Simrock in 1881, then after Dvořák’s tours in England, by Novello in London with English text in 1883.8 1 John Clapham, Antonín Dvořák; Musician and Craftsman (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1966), 243. 2 "Antonín Dvořák," Wikipedia, last modified May 17, 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonín_Dvořák. 3 Michael Steinberg, Choral Masterworks: A Listener's Guide (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), Kindle, 114. 4 Antonin Dvorak, Otakar Sourek, and L. Doruzka, Stabat Mater (Prague, Czechoslovakia: Statni nakladatelstvi krasne literatury hudby a umeni, 1958), ix. 5 John Clapham, Dvořák (New York: Norton, 1979), 60. 6 John Clapham, Dvořák (New York: Norton, 1979), 60. 7 Michael Brim Beckerman, New Worlds of Dvořák: Searching in America for the Composer's Inner Life (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003), xix-xx. 8 Neil Butterworth, Dvořák: His Life and Times (Speldhurst [England]: Midas Books, 1980), 51. 4 Stabat Mater Poem The Stabat Mater, based on the prophecy by Simeon in Luke 2:19, 34-35, has been found in writings in the thirteenth century but the authorship is not definitive.9 The possible authors mentioned in Franciscan sources are Jacopone da Todi (ca. 1228-1306), Pope Innocentius III (ca. 1160-1216), or Saint BonaventuraDoss-Johnson (died 1274) to name a few. The poem is believed to have been designed for personal worship as parts of it are in first person, or for passion plays. It entered prayer booksDoss-Johnson in 1417 and became part of the Roman Catholic liturgy in the fifteenth century. The Council of Trent removed the Stabat Mater from liturgical use in the middle of the sixteenth century. In 1727 Pope Benedict XIII restored it for use as a Sequence for the Mass of the Seven Doss-JohnsonSorrows of Mary which happens annually on September 15.10 Though Dvořák had chosen this religious text which reflects his devote Catholicism, he only intended for his Stabat Mater to be a concert work.11 The poem is made up of 20 stanzas of three lines (tristiches), respectively comprising eight, eight and seven syllables. Each pair of stanzas rhymes according to the scheme AAB CCB. The rhythm of all lines is trochaic. This is in accordance with common practice in medieval “rhyming sequences”, which originally were used as a mnemonic aid to help remember the long syllables in Gregorian chant. Dvořák did not compose according to the paired lines and so some movements don’t have words that rhyme the third line of the stanzas. Alec Robertson, a Dvořák historian, is extremely critical of Dvořák’s handling of the text. Here is one example. “… one is alternately enchanted by the sheer melodic beauty of the music 9 Michael Martin and Edward Caswell, "Stabat Mater dolorosa," Preces Latinae, accessed May 19, 2017, www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/BVM/SMDolorosa.html. 10 Wikipedia "Stabat Mater," (2016), accessed May 20, 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabat_Mater. 11 Klaus Döge, s.v. "Antonin Dvorak," in Oxford Music Online ([Oxford, England]: Oxford University Press, 2008), accessed May 19, 2016, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/. 5 and by Dvořák’s feeling for the voice, for which he always writes beautifully and effectively, and disturbed by his insensitivity to words.”12 More remarks from Robertson and others point out how the meaning of the text and the mood of the music doesn’t always match, argue that the overly frequent repetitions diminish the importance of the text, and sometimes the word stress is on a weak beat. I wonderDoss-Johnson if there is a Slavic pronunciation of Latin that stresses words differently. Even John Clapham, a well-versed scholar and fan of Dvořák, criticizes the treatment of the text,Doss-Johnson “In the ‘Eja, Mater,’ fine as it is as an independent piece of music, Dvořák starts in such a strongly rhythmic manner that he seems to have forgotten the spirit of the words until letter A is reached.”13 In another book, Clapham points out that the word “cor” in the first line of Doss-Johnsonmovement four, is an important word that is not supported compositionally. He mistresses the words “judicii” in the ninth movement and the second syllable of “virginum” in the sixth movement. Dvořák’s knowledge of Latin was very slight.14 Another Dvořák historian, Hans-Huber Schönzeler, had this to say, “The Stabat Mater leaves two immediate impressions: one is that of a deep and heart-felt religious belief, and the other is that of natural and Bohemian melodiousness. …innate symphonist and instrumental composer … comes to the fore so strongly. …the sound of the orchestra propagates the message rather than the text.”15 Dvořák gives this account about not understanding Latin at his doctoral ceremonies at Cambridge. “When I discovered they were talking to me, I could have wished myself anywhere else than there and was ashamed that I did not know Latin. But when I look back on it I must 12 Alec Robertson, Dvořák (London: Dent, 1974), 118. 13 John Clapham, Antonín Dvořák; Musician and Craftsman (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1966), 244. 14 Ibid. 15 Hans Hubert Schönzeler, Dvořák (London: M. Boyars, 1984), 88. 6 smile and think to myself that to compose Stabat Mater is, after all, better than to know Latin.”16 Another translation gives the last line as “… that Stabat Mater of mine is more than just Latin.”17 Even with weaknesses in text use, it serves the purpose of giving the listener something to hold on to. The music is the meat in this case and the text is the bread. Soloist Harald Stamm who had sung the demandingDoss-Johnson bass solo fifteen times said, “It is all there in the music, the grief, the sense of hope, and then the final triumph of faith. It tells you by the harmonies he used, by the unusualDoss-Johnson scales, by the demanding solo parts.” Ethan Sperry points out that Czech melodies begin on a strong beat, not an anacrusis, and fit the trochaic meter of the Stabat Mater as each line begins on a stressed syllable. Another Doss-Johnsonfeature about Czech melodies is how the first line or phrase of a song is repeated soon after it is sung.18 Dvořák kept the elements of his native music close while composing the Stabat Mater.