Great Sacred Music Concerts - Palm Sunday Concert: Dvořák's *Stabat Mater*

Although it was still relatively unknown outside his home country, the *Stabat Mater* would help bring the composer to the world stage. The work is dedicated to František
Hušpauer, a childhood friend of the composer. It is his first sacred work and is closely linked to the family tragedy that struck Dvořák. On September 21, 1875, his newborn daughter Josefa died. In response to this loss, Dvořák composed an initial version of the work between February 19 and May 7, 1876.
This version was scored for four soloists, a choir, and piano. Dvořák set the work aside without attempting the orchestration. Dvořák lost his other two children within a few weeks of each other: his daughter Růžena on August 13 and his eldest son Otakar on September 8, 1877. It was then that he returned to the manuscript he had set aside the previous year. He added three movements and orchestrated the entire work between October and November 13, 1877.
The version presented in this concert is a transcription for the two organs of the Métropole by Jean-Pierre Lecaudey.

See less