Franz Schubert’s Deutsches Stabat Mater, D. 383: Historical background and musical accessibility

This study explores the historical context of the text and music of Franz Schubert’s Deutsches Stabat Mater in F minor, D. 383. Schubert’s German Stabat Mater stands apart from the majority of his sacred choral music, which, intended for use in a Catholic liturgical service, uses Latin text. The text Schubert uses is a German paraphrase of the Latin Sequence contrived by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803) to allow Pergolesi’s Monumental setting to be sung in German during Protestant services. The text was also used by Johann Adam Hiller (1728–1804) in his arrangement of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. Indeed, Hiller’s Stabat Mater served as a template for Schubert’s composition. The works of Klopstock, Hiller, and Schubert reflect social and cultural changes in the Austrian-German empire of the time. Schubert intended his German Stabat Mater to be accessible and theologically acceptable for both small, Protestant church choirs and amateur choral groups to perform. Despite being raised as a Catholic, Schubert used Klopstock’s German paraphrase precisely because it reflected the spirit of both Protestantism and the Enlightenment, thereby allowing a wider market and audience for his music.

Name thesis:degree_name

A.Mus.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Music

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2021

Author dc:creator

• Cho, Seung Won

Contributors dc:contributor

• Alwes, Chester
• Megill, Andrew
• Moersch, Charlotte Mattax
• Magee, Gayle

• Schubert's German Stabat Mater, D. 383

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2020 Seung Won Cho

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109528

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/109528