My last post stated, “the show must
go on,” and so it shall! The sidewalks are relatively clear, the
heat in the Tennessee Theatre works, and we're looking forward to
performing Antonin Dvorak's cantata Stabat Mater,
tonight and Friday night at
7:30. We, meaning the
Knoxville Symphony AND the Knoxville Choral Society.
This
cantata, premiered in 1880,
is Dvorak's first work on a religious theme. From the 11th
edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (1910),
Dvorak's entry reads: “English sympathy was entirely won by the
Stabat Mater
in 1883, and increased by the symphonies in D, D mi., and F, G, and E
mi. (The
American).” The
entry goes on to describe the 9th
symphony as “a pseudo-American symphony.” That is good company,
considering Dvorak had major success only with the Serenade for Strings and a couple sheaves of Slavonic
Dances
to that point, in many more places than just England. This work is an example of a piece assigned a later opus number by some scoundrel publisher, in order to make the composer appear less accomplished. Its actual chronological point is around opus 40.
It is a very
different sort of work from a composer we associate with secular
music almost exclusively: expansive, patient, and
inspiring but not morose, considering he had lost all three of his
children in the three years previous to the work's premiere. His
response was not to “take out his frustrations” on the music, but
to hear a clear inner voice that instigated some beautifully crafted
vocal lines and absorbing orchestration.
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