Franz Josef Haydn (1732–1809): Stabat Mater

• published: 09 Mar 2015
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Franz Josef Haydn (1732–1809): Stabat Mater "I set to music with all my power the highly esteemed hymn, called Stabat Mater" - Franz Josef Haydn. Haydn's setting of the Stabat Mater is a full-scale oratorio originally scored for soloists, choir, accompanied by an orchestra of strings, oboes, and organ. Haydn composed it in 1767 six years after he entered the service of the Esterhazy family to commemorate Gregor Joseph Werner who preceded Haydn as court conductor at Esterházy and who had died the previous year. As you can see from the date of composition it's a fairly early work that pre-dates most of his Mass settings and all of his other oratorios. Early work though it be I think that as you listen to it unfolding that it's very obvious that Haydn lavished a lot of care and attention to detail on it. He was a painstaking composer anyway but in this case he had the added incentives of wanting to show respect for his predecessor, and also of competing with Pergolesi's setting of the same text which had taken Europe by storm. Haydn's setting is very different from Pergolesi's more than somewhat operatic treatment. It's far darker and despite the modest orchestral forces employed far more weighty, additionally minor keys and moderate to slow tempi predominate. While Haydn may have had Pergolesi in mind while composing it for us who come after him I think a better comparison is with Haydn's own music "Schopfung" springs to mind. Perhaps his Stabat Mater doesn't have the immediate appeal of that work but the music is, to my mind at least, far more satisfying. It's also quite a challenging piece to perform - which may explain why there are comparatively few recordings of it available. Enjoy :-). mfi