Ever since hearing the Chandos (CHAN 9548) premiere
recording of Charles Villiers Stanford’s Stabat
Mater, I have regarded it as a choral symphony
with a Christian text, rather than a cantata or oratorio.
The work’s full title is explicit: Stabat Mater: A Symphonic Cantata
for Soli, Chorus and Orchestra. If one listened to this work, but did not
understand or recognise the language (Latin), one would not immediately guess
its religious significance.
Another view of this work is propounded by Jeremy
Dibble in the liner notes. He suggests that the work is permeated with an
operatic rhetoric. Stanford always aspired to be regarded as a great composer
of opera, and did contribute a number of important, but rarely performed, works
to this genre. I certainly think that much of the music in the Stabat Mater could regarded as ‘English
(or Irish) Verdi.’ It is the episodic structure of the work, the melodies, the
use of a vocal quartet and the chorus acting as a ‘crowd’ witnessing the
events, that lead me to this opinion.
Charles Porte (Sir Charles V. Stanford. London: Kegan Paul, 1921) summed up the Stabat Mater’s musical success: he
insisted that this work ‘has a certain melodic charm’ which is balanced by ‘the
dignity and seriousness of purpose’ expected from a work of this nature.
Dibble writes that ‘Stanford evidently conceived his
interpretation of the medieval Latin hymn…not simply as a lament but as a
dramatic portrayal of the Crucifixion, Resurrection, Judgment, the hope of
Redemption and life in Paradise.’
Stanford’s Stabat
Mater is presented in five movements, which sound as if they are ‘through
composed’: they perfectly reflect the progress of the text. The opening
‘prelude’ and the third movement, a commanding Intermezzo, are for orchestra
alone, validating the symphonic status of the work. The title ‘Intermezzo’ does seem a little ‘light’
for such a deeply-felt text. The other
three movements consider the Virgin Mary kneeling before the Cross, the author begging
the Virgin to be able to share in her sorrow and lastly the vision of the Day
of Judgement and the ‘glory of paradise.’
The text of the Stabat
Mater was devised by Jacopone da Todi or possibly Pope Innocent III: it is
not ostensibly liturgical but was used for devotional purposes. It was banned
for use by the Council of Trent, but was later included in the Roman Missal as
a sequence in 1727. It has been set by many composers, including Rossini,
Howells and Verdi.
The work was first performed at the Leeds Triennial Festival
on 10 October 1907 under the composer’s direction.
It is difficult to believe that Stanford’s choral work
Song to the Soul, op.97b was never
performed in his lifetime. It was composed just prior to the First World War in
1913, for a projected trip to the United States where it was due to be
performed at the 1914 Norfolk Festival in Connecticut. The material was taken
from Stanford’s Songs of Faith, op.97
which had been written in 1906. Those six ‘songs’ for voice and piano, derived
their inspiration from the ‘religious’ poetry of Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Walt
Whitman, which did not necessarily reflect orthodox Christianity. The war situation in Europe got in the way of
plans, and the event was postponed. When it was rearranged for 1915, Stanford
was unable to attend, and the new work was abandoned in favour of the
composer’s earlier orchestrations of the songs To the Soul and Tears,
tears, tears for baritone also
from the Songs of Faith.
The text of Song
to the Soul is taken from Whitman’s collection of poems, Leaves of Grass and consists of a
conflation of two songs – ‘To the Soul’ and ‘Joy, Shipmate, Joy’. Enthusiasts
of British music will recall that RVW used the words of the former in his Toward the Unknown Region and Delius the
latter in his Songs of Farewell.
The present work opens with a deeply-felt orchestral
prelude, which is one the loveliest things Stanford penned. The choir enters
with the powerful words ‘Darest thou now, O Soul walk out with me toward the
unknown region’. The choral writing is a clever juxtaposition of introverted
and thoughtful singing with exclamations of great power and optimism. The work
ends in a quiet review of what has just gone past. For this listener, it is a
superb choral work that should be in the repertoire of all choral societies. It
is unbelievable that the premiere was not given until 16 My 2015, 101 years
after planned, by the RTE Symphony Orchestra at the National Concert Hall in
Dublin, conducted by David Hill.
I have never heard Stanford’s
beautiful The Resurrection (Die Auferstehung) op.5 before. This is an early
work composed when the Grand Old Man was only 23 years old. It was written at
Leipzig whilst the Stanford was studying composition with Carl Reinecke. His teacher recommended the work to Joseph
Barnby for possible performance at the Royal Albert Hall. It was not taken up.
Eventually Stanford presented the work at a Cambridge University Musical
Society concert in 1875. The text of the work was from an eponymous poem by
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock translated by Catherine Winkworth. Interestingly,
when Mahler came to compose his massive Symphony No.2 ‘Resurrection’ he went to
the same poetic source.
The listener can best approach
The Resurrection by understanding that it is written in three parts. The work
is prefaced by a slow, introduction for brass and strings. The first section
featuring the chorus is a lively exposition of the words ‘Rise Again’. This is
followed by a tenor solo which has a chamber music feel to it. The soloist
meditates on ‘My destin’d years of slumber’ before ‘The weary pilgrim’s sorrow
is no more…’ Finally, the tenor and
chorus join forces in a reflective passage before the work concludes in a blaze
of glory. It is an optimistic work, that sounds eminently singeable. By any
stretch of the imagination, this is a major choral work, by one of the masters
of Victorian music that has lain dormant for too many years. The advertising blurb
is correct: this early work ‘balances solemnity with rapturous affirmation.’
For a ‘first’ choral work, it is surely a minor masterpiece.
As would be expected, The Bach Choir, the soloists and
the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of David Hill give an inspirational
and often moving account of all three works. The dynamics of the recording are
splendid. It goes without saying that Jeremy Dibble has provided essential and
enlightening liner notes. The texts of all three works are provided.
This CD is
fast lining itself up to be one of my ‘discs of the year.’ From a personal
point of view, although I recognise that the Stabat Mater is an absolute masterpiece and is stunningly presented
on this CD, I do not warm to it. I need to try to understand why, so I will
listen again in the next few days and follow it in the score. However, the
opportunity to hear two major choral works by Stanford that I have never heard
before makes this disc a real treasure. ‘The Resurrection’ and ‘Song to the
Soul’ are two beautiful pieces of music that will long linger in the mind’s
ear.
Track Listing:
Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
Stabat
Mater: Symphonic Cantata, op.96 (1906)
Song
to the Soul, op.97b (1913)
The
Resurrection (1875)
Elizabeth
Cragg (soprano), Catharine Hopper (mezzo soprano), Robert Murray (tenor), David
Soar (bass), Jesper Svedberg (cello, The Resurrection), The Bach Choir,
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/David Hill
NAXOS 8.573512
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review first appeared.
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