Jakub Jan Ryba: Stabat Mater

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Ryba’s relationship to the town of Plzeň was permeated with thankfulness to the place where he never lived, but where his compositions found recognition already during his lifetime. Ryba dedicated more than a hundred of his compositions to the town of Plzeň. Of them, the most rewarding is the Latin oratorio Stabat Mater from 1805, a climactic and perhaps the most important of his works. It excels in instrumentation and was intended for the advanced choir in Plzeň with excellent singers and musicians, so that Ryba could rely on their proficiency. In Ryba’s own words, the Stabat Mater was composed within six weeks during the time when he was struggling with his “common malady.” Although we do not know the exact nature of his disease, which was probably psychosomatic, we can assume that his altered mental state enabled him to touch the very limits of his compositional art. It remains a paradox that this monumental sacred work has not been performed more often. It was never published until 2015, and a year later, the very first recording available to the public was made. The Stabat Mater must have spoken to Ryba very urgently, which is probably why (unlike most composers of his time) he set this hymn to music no less than three times. Twice he used a Czech translation, while his third Stabat Mater from 1805, an extensive and exacting piece for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, mixed choir and orchestra, employed the Latin original. The whole composition is interesting in its stylistic diversity and use of all possible means of expression, starting with the legacy of the late Baroque, through high Classicism to the beginning of Romanticism. Especially interesting is the diversity in instrumentation with which the composer endowed the individual movements.