At the very beginning of the project stood the idea of a secular Stabat Mater with the same motif of the standing mother, but more generally as an appeal to humanity without an explicitly religious meaning.

Accordingly, Bas Van Damme wrote the lyrics from the perspective of a mother who pleads to her child not to give themselves up to the “powerful men” of this world - that is, not to become an instrument of an apparatus of power - but instead to pass on the maternal (or rather parental) love that the child experienced in childhood.

 

As a companion piece to the well-known composition by GB Pergolesi, Andy Janssen composed the piece for two voices, organ, and strings, drawing on Baroque traditions in his composition. Thus, alongside the obvious reference to Pergolesi, there are also allusions to works by JS Bach – one of Janssen's earliest musical influences and thus in keeping with the childhood motif of Stabat Mater in Mundo.

The baroque structures with a more modern musical language, including influences from minimal music à la Arvo Pärt or Philip Glass, and from jazz harmony.

Frequent elegiac passages, delivered with a certain emotional harshness, are reminiscent of rock and heavy metal, genres in which Janssen has been active for years. As a contrast, however, the work equally features warm and gentle sections:

Sounds of hope for an alternative to the often cold and sobering world events.

 

 

 

Line-up

 

Anna Jussen - soprano

Bas Van Damme - countertenor

Violetta string orchestra, conductor: Jaap Kruithof

Andrew Tessman - organ

 

11 April 2025 | 8:00 p.m. | St. Jozefkerk, Leuven (BE)

 

Tickets and more information: www.basvandamme.be