Stabat Mater (2001)

Stabat Mater is a work inspired in the centennial tradition, a dramatic work of large proportions, a forty-minute oratorio for contralto, mixed chorus, and chamber orchestra. This work at times could be considered operatic for what is required of the performers, including the soloist. Its message of hope (from a faith perspective), as well as its dramatic fabric, are two important elements of this work. There are three elements, three characters in the score: the contralto represents the mother who has lost a child, who is represented by the orchestra, and the chorus, acting as a Greek chorus symbolizing humanity. The text sung by the chorus is an excerpt from the medieval text Stabat Mater, a prayer for hope from all of us. Hope is, after all, what is left to us by the end of the work.

This composition treats the 13th century extant poem, Stabat Mater, dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she endures the death of her son. She reflects on pain, mourning, being left behind, and sorrow. At the same time, it presents a novel approach to the text: among its verses, the composer intersperses a poem by Gabriela Mistral, a selection of her Sonnets of Death, sung in Spanish by a contralto. This inclusion brings our humanity to the composition, making the subject matter close to us all.