Billingshurst Choral Society
Karl Jenkins -
Karl Jenkins was awarded an OBE in the 2005 New Year's Honours List, and a CBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours List "for services to music".
The "Stabat Mater" follows his massively successful "Armed Man" [2000] and "Requiem" [2005].
Stabat Mater is a thirteenth century Roman Catholic sequence attributed to Jacopone da Todi. Its title is an abbreviation of the first line, Stabat Mater Dolorosa ("The sorrowful mother was standing"). The hymn, one of the most powerful and immediate of medieval poems, meditates on the suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ's mother, during his crucifixion.
Karl's setting uses ancient text from the area (Holy Land/Middle East) that is sung in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic (the lingua franca of the period) and a contemporary poem, sung in English.
The world premiere performance of the Stabat Mater took place in Liverpool on 15th March 2008. In January 2009, BCS members participated in one of the first US performances of the Stabat Mater at the Lincoln Center, New York.
