Travel Tip: Classical Music in United States
Sacred Music in a Sacred Space

J. S. Bach: Cantata No. 12, “Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen”
Agostino Stefani: Stabat Mater
J. S. Bach: Cantata No. 4, “Christ lag in Todesbanden” 

While the two Bach cantatas need no introduction, Stefani's Stabat Mater is less well-known.

A contemporary of Bach, Italian-born Agostino Steffani composed a number of operas that were presented throughout Germany during the late 1600s. He was an ordained priest and was named as an ambassador, giving him a good deal of diplomatic power. In 1724, the Academy of Ancient Music in London named Steffani as its honorary president for life, and in return, he gave them a magnificent setting of the Stabat Mater for six soloists, choir and orchestra. Steffani set the 20 strophes of the devotional Stabat Mater poem in 12 movements for either solo or choir with string orchestra accompaniment, using expressive word painting and suspensions to represent the grief of the Virgin Mother. Both Bach in his Cantata 4 and Steffani in this work make use of divided violas for a darker, more somber musical color. 

At 7:00pm, Associate Director of Music Renée Anne Louprette presents a pre-concert organ recital featuring settings of Christ lag in Todesbanden and Crucifixus from the B Minor Mass by J.S. Bach, excerpts from Marcel Dupré’s Le Chemin de la Croix and Franz Liszt’s Variations on “Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen.”

Choir and Chamber Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola
Kent Tritle, conductor
Jamet Pittman and Michèle Eaton, sopranos
Katie Geissinger and Ory Brown, mezzo-sopranos
Steven Fox and Michael Steinberger, tenors
Peter Stewart, baritone
Steven Hrycelak, bass