Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings - Karl Jenkins: Stabat Mater

The Stuttgart Oratorio Choir under the direction of Enrico Trummer awaits you on Palm Sunday for this year's Passion concert. Other performers: Stuttgarter Concertino, Deborah Saffery and Toktam Moslehi.

In 2008, Welshman Karl Jenkins presented a fascinating and, in the best sense of the word, "contemporary" setting of the medieval poem. It is now one of the most frequently performed works in the world. There are many reasons for this success:
Musically, Jenkins reaches his audience with his unmistakable style, which effortlessly transcends the boundaries between genres. Classical and symphonic elements combine with echoes of pop, folklore, film music and contemporary trends to create interculturally colored, sometimes oriental sound experiences that appeal to a wide range of listeners
In terms of content, Jenkins enriches the traditional text with his own or associative texts. They place the theme of a suffering mother from the narrow Christian context into a supra-religious, contemporary context. In addition, historical connections are made in individual numbers of this work. They range from the Epic of Gilgamesh to texts by the 13th century Persian mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi, for whom grief and suffering was a central aspect. In addition to the original Latin text, other languages are also used. The spectrum ranges from English, Hebrew and Greek to Aramaic, thus traversing an intercultural, historically associative space.

The evening opens with Samuel Barber's famous Adagio for Strings, which listeners of the British BBC once voted the "saddest piece of music of all time".