Name: Self, Susannah: Stabat Mater
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Self, Susannah: Stabat Mater

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Stabat Mater was composed on the Greek island of Skyros during the summer of 2023. Like a hermit, I composed daily in a bamboo hut with the help of an electric fan to keep me cool. Out of the door I could see an idyllic sea bay beyond the pine trees. The Stabat Mater text drew me into a deeper understanding of how the Virgin Mary must have felt at the foot of the cross. I began to imagine not only her sorrow but also that of Mary Magdalene who was there too. Therefore the soprano soloist represents the Virgin Mary and the alto soloist, Mary Magdalene.

I also chose to weave into the work some verses of the "Planctus ante nescia", another Medieval poem. This was to secure a more intimate view of the Virgin Mary's experience at the foot of the cross.

My overall compositional methodology was to develop the work organically, working from the centre and then outwards on both sides. This was to emulate the way in which an egg develops. In truth the work was composed in full score in a short period of ten days. The claustrophobia of the little hut combined with the exquisite beauty of the seascape drove me into an accelerated rate of output, so much so that on the last day I finished the work by staying up all night accompanied by the Skyros Scops owls. The next day I returned to our cottage beneath Ely Cathedral. The whole sequence of composing the Stabat Mater emulated within me a dream-like state so that as I rehearsed the work, I was scarcely aware that I had composed the music but rather sensed that it had composed me!

My heartfelt love and thanks goes to my composer husband, Michael Christie for his exquisite editing of the score and preparation of the parts. Also my deep gratitude to The North Sea Orchestra and Voices and the Ely Collegium for their commitment to singing a new work. This setting of the Stabat Mater is designed to go with the orchestration of the Vivaldi Gloria in D (RV589). I am indebted to my sponsors for making it possible to première the work in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral on 13th April 2024.

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