Dvorak Stabat Mater

Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)

was one of the first Czech composers to achieve worldwide recognition. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana.

His setting of the Stabat Mater was his first piece of a religious nature, and was premièred in Prague in 1880. It was very successfully performed in London in 1883, leading to many other performances in the United Kingdom and United States

Stabat Mater

The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Jesus Christ's mother during his crucifixion. Its author is thought to be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III. The title comes from its first line, Stabat mater dolorosa, which means "the sorrowful mother was standing".

Antonín Dvořák's Stabat Mater, Op. 58 (B. 71), is an extended setting for vocal soloists, choir and orchestra of the 20 stanzas of the Stabat Mater sequence. Dvořák sketched the composition in 1876 and completed it in 1877. It has been characterized as a sacred cantata and as an oratorio, and consists of ten movements of which only the first and the last are thematically connected. Its total performance time is around 85 minutes.

The work was first performed in Prague in 1880. N. Simrock published Dvořák's Op. 58 in 1881, and in 1882 Leoš Janáček conducted a performance of the work in Brno. The work was performed in London in 1883, and again, in the Royal Albert Hall, in 1884, and thus played a crucial role in Dvořák's international breakthrough as a composer. In the 21st century the Stabat Mater continues to be Dvořák's best known, and most often performed, sacred work.

St Mary's Church Organ

In 2018, the restoration of the organ was completed, after a 5-year campaign. The restorers, Nicholson & Co, said:

"Nicholson & Co., of Malvern, have undertaken a complete restoration of the 1911 Norman & Beard organ.

The action is being converted from pneumatic to electro-pneumatic throughout. The existing en fenêtre console is being restored without alteration to its playing aids or period appearance. A new mobile console of modern Nicholson & Co. design, with a full complement of modern playing aids, will be added.

In the 1960s, Hill, Norman & Beard replaced a Vox Humana on the Swell Organ with a Larigot 11/3‘, and replaced a Cor Anglais on the Choir Organ with a Block Flute 2’. The Larigot has been discarded, and a second-hand 1910 Norman & Beard Vox Humana has been restored to be installed in its place. The Block Flute was found to complement the tonal scheme so is being retained."

Click here for a complete spec ►

You can see Nicholson & Co.'s photographic record of the restoration here ►

Meet our wonderful soloists!

Olivia Boen, soprano

Olivia Boen cropped.jpg Praised for her “full-bodied, sparkling tone” (Cleveland Classical), Chicago-born lyric soprano Olivia Boen is increasingly in demand both on the operatic stage and in the recital hall. In the 2022-23 season, she will make her role debuts as Musetta and Gretel at the Hamburg Staatsoper, where she will be joining the International Opera Studio. This season, Olivia makes her debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis in Beethoven’s concert aria “Ah, Perfido!”. She was a finalist in the 2021 Guildhall Gold Medal Prize hosted by the Barbican where she sang a diverse programme of songs by Messiaen, Marx, Maconchy, and Rachmaninov, and arias from Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Strauss’ Daphne, and Floyd’s Susannah. Olivia is a current member of the Wigmore Hall French Song Exchange led by Dame Felicity Lott and François le Roux, a City Music Foundation Artist, and a Samling Artist.

Olivia graduated from the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2021, where she received a Distinction mark for both her Artist Masters and Artist Diploma degrees, and is a 2017 alumna of Oberlin Conservatory.

Miriam Sharrad, mezzo-soprano

Miriam Sharrad Miriam made her debut with the Australian Opera Studio. She has performed in Australia (WA Opera), New Zealand and Japan and was invited to perform at the opening of the 2006 Asian Economic Forum in Cambodia. In the United Kingdom, Miriam has worked with the English Touring Opera, (Marcellina - Marriage of Figaro, Mrs Fox, The Fantastic Mr Fox), Grange Park Opera, (Filipyevna – Eugene Onegin, Woodpecker/Frog - The Cunning Little Vixen), Renard Productions (Dinah - Trouble in Tahiti), Opera South East, (Fenena - Nabucco), Open Door Opera, (mother - Hansel and Gretel) and Opera Room Productions (Mrs Galloway – The Invited). On the concert platform, Miriam has sung Waltraute Götterdämmerung conducted by David Syrus, Schwertleite Die Walküre with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis, Brangäne Tristan und Isolde with the Edinburgh Players Opera Group and Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesesllen with The South East London Orchestra.

Mark Hounsell, tenor

Mark Hounsell Mark studied singing at Birmingham conservatoire with Julian Pike. He was appointed the youngest Vicar Choral in the country at aged 20 at Lichfield Cathedral. Following five years at Lichfield, Mark joined the Choir of St Albans Abbey. In 2009 he was appointed a Vicar Choral at Wells Cathedral and has since joined Truro Cathedral choir. Mark has performed as a consort singer with some of the country’s leading choirs, most notably The Choir of the English Concert, Ex Cathedra, Oxford Bach Soloists and De Profundis. Mark is known for his 'lyric tone', particularly in baroque and classical performances. His oratorio performances include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and St Matthew and St John Passions, Handel’s Messiah & Jephtha, Haydn’s The Creation and Mozart’s Requiem.

Mark Saberton, baritone

Mark Saberton Mark studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He sings at the Royal Opera House and previously worked at Opera North and Scottish Opera. He has performed and recorded the role of Ben Budge (Beggars Opera) with the City of London Sinfonia and Royal Opera. At English National Opera he played the roles of Zurga (Pearlfishers), Pizarro (Fidelio) and Lepidus/Mereia (Caligula). He has also sung with Kentish Opera, Swansea City Opera, Longborough Festival Opera and Opera Holland Park. Mark has featured on BBC Radio 3 and performed in many oratorios and recitals including Brahms’ Requiem (Birmingham Symphony Hall), Orff’s Carmina Burana (Liverpool Philharmonic Hall), Verdi’s Requiem (St Edmundsbury Cathedral) and Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony (Rochester Cathedral).

Jonathan Lilley, organist

Jonathan Lilley A performing musician since chorister days at parish church and cathedral in Salisbury, Jonathan Lilley trained at the Royal Academy of Music, and whilst still a first-year undergraduate held the organ scholarship at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle and passed the notorious exam for Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists. His first permanent appointment was as Sub-Organist of Leeds Parish Church (now Leeds Minster) with its famous musical tradition going back to Samuel Sebastian Wesley’s time as Organist. He served also as choral director, repetiteur and piano accompanist at Leeds College of Music, and accompanied several choirs including the famous Halifax Choral Society.

Jonathan later moved to Ely Cathedral as full-time Assistant Organist, accompanying and helping to train and run the cathedral choir of boys and men. He accompanied the choir on BBC broadcasts, on CD and on overseas tours as well as in the course of daily worship. He performed Poulenc’s organ concerto with City of London Sinfonia live on BBC Radio 3, and occasionally entertained the cathedral community with improvised accompaniments to classic silent films.

Since September 2013 Jonathan has been Director of Music at Waltham Abbey, Essex, where he leads the mixed adult choir and a flourishing children’s choir known as the Choristers. Having London on the doorstep he is in demand for all manner of keyboard accompaniment work, and is accompanist to the Waltham Singers of Chelmsford as he was to the English Baroque Choir until joining EAC in 2020.