Karol Szymanowski's Stała matka bolejąca (Stabat mater dolorosa), Op. 53, was composed in 1925 and 1926. Scored for soprano, alto and baritone soloists, SATB choir and orchestra, it sets Jozef Janowski's Polish translation of the Marian hymn in six movements. His first composition to a liturgical text, it is characteristic of his late period in being partly based on Polish melodies and rhythms; a stay in the Tatras mountains, at Zakopane, in 1922 had led him to describe Polish folk music as "enlivening [in] its proximity to Nature, [in] its force, [in] its directness of feeling, [in] its undisturbed racial purity." Indeed, Szymanowski's use of Polish musical elements together with the Polish translation here is unique. Origin and performances In 1924 Princess Edmond de Polignac requested "a piece for soloists, choir, orchestra (perhaps with Polish text): a kind of Polish Requiem." Teresa Chylińska indicates Szymanowski's intentions for the piece in response to the request: "a type of peasant Requiem, something peasant and ecclesiastical, naively devotional, a sort of prayer for souls, a mixture of simple-minded religion, paganism and a certain austere peasant realism." But Szymanowski and the princess lost touch. Late the same year, however, thoughts about such a composition were revived when Warsaw industrialist Bronisław Krystall asked Szymanowski for a work in memory of his late wife. Circumstances in the composer's own life also served as an catalyst. Upon the death of his niece, Alusia Bartoszewiczówna, in January 1925, the composer spent time consoling his sister, subsequently choosing to set the Stabat mater text, reflecting as it does the "grieving mother." External factors served as motivation too, including financial need, although there is no evidence of the composer receiving compensation for this work. The Stabat mater was premiered on January 11, 1929, in Warsaw, conducted by Grzegorz Fitelberg. Its American premiere came two years later at Carnegie Hall, performed by Berthe Erza, Hugh Ross, Nelson Eddy, and others. The score was published by Universal Edition in Vienna. Instrumentation Soprano, alto, and baritone soloists; SATB choir; and orchestra consisting of 2 flutes, 2 oboes (2nd doubling cor anglais), 2 clarinets in A, two bassoons (2nd doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, bass drum, triangle, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, tubular bells, harp, organ (ad lib), and strings consisting of 8 first violins, 8 second violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos, and 4 contrabasses. Movements Stała matka bolejąca (Stabat mater dolorosa, verses 1–4)