MÁV Symphony Orchestra Presented by Liszt Academy

Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi, who lived in the 13th century, wrote the famous verse that describes the overwhelming sense of desolation experienced by the mother of Jesus as she stood at the foot of the Cross. In the centuries that followed, many composers wrote works to this poem, one of the finest being the piece by the great Czech composer Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904). The text was tragically pertinent for Dvořák: in the months following its creation, he lost three of his own children. The piece is divided into ten parts, with each movement having its own musical character. Following a dramatic orchestral introduction, the choir begin singing their first words in descending chromatic scale. The main theme of the closing movement is the same, thus framing the entire work. Stabat Mater debuted in Prague in 1880. The first performance of the work abroad was in London in 1883, where its ecstatic reception cemented Dvořák’s reputation in England.