The Stabat Mater's first movement is so exceptionally long mainly because it's a perfectly organized sonata movement (in the concerto variant): 1st Exposition (orchestra only) - 2nd Exposition (chorus & orchestra - the chorus acting as the "soloist" of a concerto) - Development (solo quartet, led by the tenor; chorus & orchestra) - Recapitulation & Coda (the whole ensemble again). The first four movements deal with deep mourning: the first is the "official", public mourning - the funeral service of the deceased children; the second is about private mourning, depicting the bereaved family members after the funeral rites; in the third it is the neighbours & friends gathering at the mourner's house, expressing pain, shock, anger and sympathy; and then comes the most touching movement (for me, at least) - fac ut ardeat cor meum: it is the bereaved father's solo. Bass, accompanied by chorus & orchestra, hovering between Major & Minor, part declaiming, part singing, knowing he should let go, but not wanting to. It has two endings: the first soars upward, with the souls of the children, towards heaven; the second - sinks with the bereft father into total darkness: the grief processing is finished; the children's loss is finally accepted as fait accompli. From then on it is Dvorák's indomitable optimism that has the upper hand, with the last movement rounding-up the whole work in cyclical form style, relentlessly driving forward towards an exhilarating and life-enhancing coda.
Thank you for this video!!! I found your channel originally because I spotted your Dvorak Requiem video 2 years ago. I have been hooked on your channel ever since and I have definitely found a “kindred spirit” (you) in regards to my love for Dvorak. I don’t know anybody else who likes, knows or even cares about his choral music. Absolutely glorious pieces!!!!
I love that you always have a review for a box im thinking about buying! I didnt even know there was an organ version for the mass in D, im excited!! Dvořáks choral works are the best ♥️
I bought the 8CD set of Sacred Choral Works on your recommendation. It's wonderful (as you know). I'm not familiar with any of the works so it's a wonderful journey of discovery.
Thank you for highlighting Dvorak again! Like Saint-Seans, he is such a sorely neglected composer by many. For whatever reason, Supraphon recordings are hard to come by.
Thanks again for carrying the torch for Dvorak, Dave! A pity that this video will only garner a small fraction of the views of, say, The Ideal Beethoven or Mahler Symphonies videos. The neglect of Dvorak’s vocal music never ceases to amaze me, above all the strikingly powerful and beautiful Requiem, which is probably my favorite work of its kind. It (along with so many other works of his) completely gives lie to the notion still held by some that Dvorak was a facile, simplistic composer who couldn’t achieve emotional depth in his music. Oh, and to say nothing of his operas! I’m not even a huge opera fan, but upon hearing “Dimitrij” I was stunned at the consistent quality of the music which, despite being by a major composer, is all but completely unknown….
I totally agree that Dvořák's choral works are REALLY underrated. I personally believe that his Requiem is better than Verdi and his Stabat Mater is better than Rossini. Shaw's Telarc recordings can be somewhat hit and miss (the choir is always great, the orchestra can be iffy), but his Stabat Mater is truly excellent. It's probably one of his top two recordings on Telarc (Faure/Durufle Requiems being the other). I first heard the Requiem from Ancerl's recording, and still love it, but Wit's recording was shocking how good it was. The performances are great and Naxos really nailed the engineering, audiophile quality.
Agree with your verdict on the Mass in D. It is indeed gorgeous. A recording to avoid is by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra on Chandos. The lumbering tempo for the Kyrie is an incredible lapse of judgment!
Mr Hurwitz, many thanks for this video. I have nostalgic feelings about several recordings you didn’t mention, like Talich’s Stabat Mater and Krombholc’s Specter’s Bride (both sonically outdated, but I think artistically wonderful and with excellent soloists, like Kalas and Mraz). I agree completely that Specter’s Bride is yet to receive a truly great recording. The Belohlavek is ok in my humble opinion, I am now curious about the Macal, and I am not going to risk the fairly recent Meister on Capriccio, even though its soloists look good on paper. When I was about 12 or 13, I saw a performance with the Czech Phil under Zdenek Kosler, the Prague Philharmonic Choir under Veselka and the narrator/specter sung incomparably by Karel Berman (don’t remember the other two soloists, unfortunately), which completely blew me away. Perhaps a recording exists in the Czech radio archives waiting to be released, but maybe it would be a disappointment to listen to it after all those years. Kosler’s Slovak Phil recordings of Stabat Mater and Requiem are not among the bests I am afraid, so perhaps better stick with my memories.
This is a great video. I bought Sinopoli's recording of the Stabat Mater when it came out and I was really moved by it. I will be investigating some of the other larger choral works after hearing this and also will have a look got Shaw's Stabat 👍🏻
I have the Supraphon box, it was the most attractive of all of that box series. But… with the best will in the world there are parts of Saint Ludmilla that I find incredibly hard to get through. The topic and sentiment have dated rather badly. But there are many other great works. The Stabat Mater is a total masterpiece.
The Stabat Mater's first movement is so exceptionally long mainly because it's a perfectly organized sonata movement (in the concerto variant): 1st Exposition (orchestra only) - 2nd Exposition (chorus & orchestra - the chorus acting as the "soloist" of a concerto) - Development (solo quartet, led by the tenor; chorus & orchestra) - Recapitulation & Coda (the whole ensemble again). The first four movements deal with deep mourning: the first is the "official", public mourning - the funeral service of the deceased children; the second is about private mourning, depicting the bereaved family members after the funeral rites; in the third it is the neighbours & friends gathering at the mourner's house, expressing pain, shock, anger and sympathy; and then comes the most touching movement (for me, at least) - fac ut ardeat cor meum: it is the bereaved father's solo. Bass, accompanied by chorus & orchestra, hovering between Major & Minor, part declaiming, part singing, knowing he should let go, but not wanting to. It has two endings: the first soars upward, with the souls of the children, towards heaven; the second - sinks with the bereft father into total darkness: the grief processing is finished; the children's loss is finally accepted as fait accompli. From then on it is Dvorák's indomitable optimism that has the upper hand, with the last movement rounding-up the whole work in cyclical form style, relentlessly driving forward towards an exhilarating and life-enhancing coda.
A lovely (and accurate) description. Thank you for sharing it.
Thank you for this video!!! I found your channel originally because I spotted your Dvorak Requiem video 2 years ago. I have been hooked on your channel ever since and I have definitely found a “kindred spirit” (you) in regards to my love for Dvorak. I don’t know anybody else who likes, knows or even cares about his choral music. Absolutely glorious pieces!!!!
I love that you always have a review for a box im thinking about buying! I didnt even know there was an organ version for the mass in D, im excited!! Dvořáks choral works are the best ♥️
Teaching about underappreciated works AND dissing the Penguin Guide all at once. I call this a win-win.
Truthfully the penguin guide was my go to until classics today. And I trusted it without question.
For what it's worth, my 1984 Penguin says nothing disparaging about the Mass at all.
I bought the 8CD set of Sacred Choral Works on your recommendation. It's wonderful (as you know). I'm not familiar with any of the works so it's a wonderful journey of discovery.
Thank you for highlighting Dvorak again! Like Saint-Seans, he is such a sorely neglected composer by many. For whatever reason, Supraphon recordings are hard to come by.
I didn't know about that set, though I've been collecting the other orchestral sets released by Supraphon. Thank you!
Thanks again for carrying the torch for Dvorak, Dave! A pity that this video will only garner a small fraction of the views of, say, The Ideal Beethoven or Mahler Symphonies videos. The neglect of Dvorak’s vocal music never ceases to amaze me, above all the strikingly powerful and beautiful Requiem, which is probably my favorite work of its kind. It (along with so many other works of his) completely gives lie to the notion still held by some that Dvorak was a facile, simplistic composer who couldn’t achieve emotional depth in his music.
Oh, and to say nothing of his operas! I’m not even a huge opera fan, but upon hearing “Dimitrij” I was stunned at the consistent quality of the music which, despite being by a major composer, is all but completely unknown….
Wexford festival are staging Dvorak’s Armida in October,
I totally agree that Dvořák's choral works are REALLY underrated. I personally believe that his Requiem is better than Verdi and his Stabat Mater is better than Rossini.
Shaw's Telarc recordings can be somewhat hit and miss (the choir is always great, the orchestra can be iffy), but his Stabat Mater is truly excellent. It's probably one of his top two recordings on Telarc (Faure/Durufle Requiems being the other).
I first heard the Requiem from Ancerl's recording, and still love it, but Wit's recording was shocking how good it was. The performances are great and Naxos really nailed the engineering, audiophile quality.
Agree about the Requiem, under the shadow of the slightly inferior Verdi work.
Agree with your verdict on the Mass in D. It is indeed gorgeous. A recording to avoid is by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra on Chandos. The lumbering tempo for the Kyrie is an incredible lapse of judgment!
Mr Hurwitz, many thanks for this video. I have nostalgic feelings about several recordings you didn’t mention, like Talich’s Stabat Mater and Krombholc’s Specter’s Bride (both sonically outdated, but I think artistically wonderful and with excellent soloists, like Kalas and Mraz). I agree completely that Specter’s Bride is yet to receive a truly great recording. The Belohlavek is ok in my humble opinion, I am now curious about the Macal, and I am not going to risk the fairly recent Meister on Capriccio, even though its soloists look good on paper. When I was about 12 or 13, I saw a performance with the Czech Phil under Zdenek Kosler, the Prague Philharmonic Choir under Veselka and the narrator/specter sung incomparably by Karel Berman (don’t remember the other two soloists, unfortunately), which completely blew me away. Perhaps a recording exists in the Czech radio archives waiting to be released, but maybe it would be a disappointment to listen to it after all those years. Kosler’s Slovak Phil recordings of Stabat Mater and Requiem are not among the bests I am afraid, so perhaps better stick with my memories.
This is a great video. I bought Sinopoli's recording of the Stabat Mater when it came out and I was really moved by it. I will be investigating some of the other larger choral works after hearing this and also will have a look got Shaw's Stabat 👍🏻
What if Barbirolli or Markevitch had conducted The Spectre's Bride? I bet that would have been incredible.
We still need a version of Spectre's Bride in English, the language of the 1885 premiere in Birmingham. Or have I missed one?
I have the Supraphon box, it was the most attractive of all of that box series. But… with the best will in the world there are parts of Saint Ludmilla that I find incredibly hard to get through. The topic and sentiment have dated rather badly.
But there are many other great works. The Stabat Mater is a total masterpiece.