[00:09] - I. Stała Matka bolejąca
At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to her Son to the last.
[06:54] - II. I któż widział tak cierpiącą
Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold?
[09:40] - III. O matko Źródło Wszechmiłości
O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord
[13:27] - IV. Spraw niech płaczę z Tobą razem
Let me mingle tears with thee,
mourning Him who mourned for me,
all the days that I may live
[17:18] - V. Panno słodka racz mozołem
Virgin of all virgins blest!,
Listen to my fond request:
let me share thy grief divine;
[20:33] - VI. Chrystus niech mi będzie grodem
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
be Thy Mother my defense,
be Thy Cross my victory;
[translation by Edward Caswall, 1849]
“It is one of those musical revelations of the highest order, which fully deserve to be classed as a masterpiece,” says Stanisław Golachowski in his monograph. The work was written for a number of reasons. One of them was a commission placed with Szymanowski by a patron of the arts, Bronisław Krystall, to compose a Requiem in memory of his wife, the violinist Izabella Krystall, who died prematurely. This idea fitted in with the composer’s earlier intention, which was to write a larger religious composition - this was to be a work which combined religious content with Polish folk motifs.
In his correspondence with Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, the composer mentioned a Chłopskie requiem [Peasant requiem], through which would echo his favourite Gorzkie żale [Bitter Sorrow], sung somewhere in a little rustic church. Later, the composer’s attention was drawn to the exquisite - in his words - Polish translation of the Latin sequence Stabat Mater (which after the Trent Council was included in liturgy as a hymn). This translation, by the poet Józef Jankowski, enchanted the composer by its directness of expression, simplicity and particularly Polish sensibility. He decided to create music to this text, which would be nationalistic in character, but far removed from both the “official” liturgical music, and literal borrowings from folklore.
Further description and musical analysis can be found under this link: www.karolszymanowski.pl/watch-...
Aleksandra Kurzak - soprano
Agnieszka Rehlis - mezzo-soprano
Dmitry Korchak - tenor
Artur Ruciński - baritone
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir
Jacek Kaspszyk - conductor