Jenkins Stabat Mater

Karl Jenkins’ masterpiece, STABAT MATER, is coming to the City Hall on August 18th and 19th at 7 pm! Prepare to be deeply moved by the power of two hundred and fifty voices when The Symphony Choir of Cape Town joins forces with SACS Boys High School choir and Herschel Girls School Choir, WindWorx and Stellenbosch University Symphonic Wind Ensembles, and soloist Minette du Toit-Pearce.

Every year the Symphony Choir collaborates with selected Cape Town schools, in order to expose scholars to large scale classical works and ignite a passion for choral music which will hopefully continue into their adult life. Conducted by Levi Alexander, this experience is not-to-be-missed.

Composed in 2007 for choir and orchestra, Stabat Mater, by Sir Karl Jenkins, is based on the 13th-century prayer. It is one of the most popular contemporary settings of the medieval Catholic poem, "Stabat Mater dolorosa" ('The sorrowful Mother was standing') and reflects on the suffering of Mary mother of Jesus at the time of the Crucifixion. Like much of Jenkins' earlier work, the work incorporates both traditional Western music (orchestra and choir) with ethnic instruments and vocals. This broadens the work from specifically Christian meditation to a more universal reflection of grief, motherhood, suffering and compassion.

The work includes twelve movements, six of which use texts other than the original poem. They include a choral arrangement of the "Ave Verum" Jenkins originally wrote for Bryn Terfel, a Welsh Bass-Baritone opera and concert singer and "The Mother Did Weep," which features a single line sung simultaneously in English, Latin, Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. Audiences love this work due to its emotional immediacy. It offers rich colours, dramatic contrasts and a deep sense of spirituality without the complexity of some modern sacred music.

Stabat Mater received its world premiere in Liverpool Anglican Church on 15 March 2008. The programme also features Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria and Marta Keen Thompson’s Homeward Bound. Performances are on Tuesday 18 August and Wednesday 19 August at 7.00pm.