Adam Chamber Music Festival: Stabat Mater

The Song Company Photo: CMNZ

In tonight’s concert from the Adam Chamber Music Festival the Stabat Mater by Pergolesi is sung by the Song Company with soloists Michelle Ryan (soprano) and Anna Fraser (mezzo). Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Catholic hymn to Mary, variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III. It is about the sorrows and suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ’s mother during his crucifixion. The Stabat Mater has been set to music by many composers, with the most famous settings being those by Palestrina, Pergolesi, Alessandro Scarlatti and Domenico Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Haydn, Rossini, Dvořák, George Henschel, Karol Szymanowski, Poulenc and Arvo Pärt.