new album released
preformed by ensemble !Kebataola!
STABAT MATER is inspired by Marie Guyart (1599–1672), known as the Mary of Incarnation. Marie was a wife, mother, nun, spiritual advisor, mystic, entrepreneur, colonialist, and the first female missionary outside Europe. She played a key role in spreading Catholicism in New France and established the first girls’ school in the New World. Her most important writings comprise around 13,000 letters, many of which were addressed to her son Claude. They represent a striking example of early modern colonial discourse. Since her death, she has been considered a saint, and in 2014, the Catholic Church officially declared her a saint. Marie renounced motherhood in favor of her calling and vocation as a nun, but she remained a mother. Her story raises the questions: Do women have to bear the greatest burden when deciding between their personal mission and family duty? Can maternal love exist in radical sacrifice?
STABAT MATER
The composition for four female voices a cappella (SSAA) is set as Stabat Mater. The text consists of excerpts from the medieval hymn Stabat Mater Dolorosa, whose most likely authors are the monk Jacopone da Todi (c. 1228–1306) and Pope Innocent III (c. 1160–1216); fragments from Stabat Mater Speciosa (the happiness of a mother at the birth of her son), first printed in the 15th century, which also has no known author or lyrics; insights into the intimate emotional world of a woman is a work by Karmine Šilec.
The Stabat Mater was written as an echo of Mary’s suffering when she made the decision to enter a convent and take the most difficult step – to leave her child. This is a heavy cross that she bears, following the example of Christ. Like Christ, she endures the contempt of those who despise her as a cruel and heartless mother.
CARMINA SLOVENICA, 2025
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