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by Josquin des Pres (c. 1440-1521)

The Stabat Mater text depicts the sorrow of Mary at the foot of the cross, lamenting the death of her son, a gripping emotional scene that only a grieving mother could fully understand. Authorship of the text has been conventionally ascribed to Jacopone da Todi, (c. 1230 – 1306), but an earlier copy of the text is preserved in a 13th-century gradual now in the Bologna Museo Civico Medievale. The sequence paraphrases passages in John 19:25, Luke 2:35, Zacharias 13:6, Second Corinthians 4:10, and Galatians 6:17. Eliminated as a liturgical sequence after the Council(s) of Trent, the Stabat Mater was restored in 1727 by Pope Benedict XIII, and is proper for Feasts of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, which occur during Holy Week and also in September.

Josquin’s Stabat Mater dolorosa setting dates from circa 1480, and might possibly be the first polyphonic setting of the text. The pulse is gentle, the polyphony is subtle and the melodic contours are smooth, and effective interpretation demands that we discard the spiky, angular approach so prevalent in modern performances of 15th-century music. The triple-time section towards the close is an invocation of the Trinity, not a bit of jollifcation, and we treat it with the great subtlety that Josquin most likely intended.

This setting of the Stabat Mater was quite popular well into the 16th century, with printed versions arranged for solo lute by the likes of Valentin Bakfark, Simon Gintzler and Francesco da Milano. The motet for five-voices employs as a cantus firmus the tenor of the chanson, Comme femme desconfortée, attributed to Gilles Binchois (c.1400 – 1460), heard throughout verbatim but in quadruple augmentation. Our performance for solo voice and lute is edited from an historical version published by Pierre Phalese in 1553, with the addition of a bowed viol on the important tenor line.

lyrics

Stabat Mater dolorosa
Juxta crucem lacrimosa
Dum pendebat filius.
Cuius animam gementem
Contristatam et dolentem.
pertransivit gladius.

O quam tristis et afflicta.
Fuit illa benedicta.
Mater unigeniti.
Que mœrebat et dolebat.
Et tremebat dum videbat.
Nati pœnas incliti.

Quis est homo qui non fleret
Christi matrem si videret.
In tanto supplicio?
Quis non posset contristari
Piam matrem contemplari.
Dolentem cum Filio?

Pro peccatis suæ gentis
Vidit Ihesum in tormentis.
Et flagellis subditum.
Vidit suum dulcem natum
morientem desolatum.
Dum emisit spiritum.

Eya mater fons amoris.
Me sentire vim doloris.
Fac ut tecum lugeam.
Fac ut ardeat cor meum.
In amando Christum deum.
Ut sibi complaceam.

Sancta Mater istud agas.
Crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.
Tui nati vulnerati.
Tam dignantis pro me pati.
Pœnas mecum dívide.

Fac me vere tecum flere.
Crucifixo condolere.
Donec ego vixero.
Juxta crucem tecum stare.
Te libenter sociare.
In planctu desidero.

Virgo virginum præclara.
Mihi iam non sis amara
Fac me tecum plangere.
Fac ut portem Christi mortem.
Passionis eius sortem.
Et plagas recolere.

Fac me plagis vulnerari.
Cruce hac inebriari.
Ob amorem filii.
Inflammatus et accensus.
Per te Virgo sim defensus
in die iudicii.

Fac me cruce custodiri.
Morte Christi præmuniri.
Confuneri gratia.
Quando corpus morietur.
Fac ut anime donetur.
Paradisi gloria. Amen.

======

The grieving Mother stood weeping
beside the cross
where her son was hanging.
His groans and suffering
pierced her soul like a sword.

O how sad and afflicted
was that blessed Mother of the only-begotten!
How worthy, and how grieved,
Shuddering to see the torment
of her glorious child.

Who would not weep to see
the mother of Christ in such torture?
Who could not feel compassion
at witnessing the suffering
of a devoted mother with her son?

She saw Jesus in torment,
submitting to the scourge.
For the sins of his people.
She beheld her sweet offspring dying,
forsaken, breathing his last.

O Mother, fountain of love,
make me feel the power of your anguish,
that I may grieve with you.
Make my heart burn with the love of Christ
that I might be pleasing to God.

Holy Mother, fix the wounds of
the Crucified powerfully into my heart,
that I may share the pain
of your wounded son,
who so deigned to suffer for me.

Let me truly weep with you,
to suffer with the Crucified
for as long as I live
This is my desire:
to stand beside the cross with you,
and to join you in your lamenting.

Illustrious Virgin of virgins,
be not bitter with me,
Make me mourn with you
Make me bear Christ’s death,
share his Passion,
and remember His wounds

Let me be wounded by his wounds.
Drench me in the blood of the cross
Enkindle and inflame me
for the sake of your son’s love
Defend me, Virgin,
on the day of judgement.

Let me be shielded by the cross,
Safeguarded by Christ’s death,
Cherished by grace.
When my body dies,
Grant my soul
the glory of Paradise. Amen.

(translation by Donna Stewart)

credits

from Mater Dolorosa: Music for the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, released November 11, 2020
Donna Stewart, voice
Ron Andrico, lute
Malina Rauschenfels, viol

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Mignarda Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Mignarda specializes in thoughtful programming illuminating the vibrant mingling of renaissance music & poetry. Noted for awakening modern audiences to an appreciation for historical music, their work encompasses concertizing, teaching & recording, with 17 critically-acclaimed CDs, a series of 16 music editions, scholarly articles, reviews and the internationally-popular blog, Unquiet Thoughts. ... more

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