Good Friday, April 2, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

STABAT MATER

BY kARL jENKINS

When many people hear that a concert contains a piece of new music, they head for the exit doors — if they ever even got inside in the first place. However, PPC’s 13th annual Good Friday Devotional Concert on April 2 features a new work that — rather than causing you to flee — should be embraced with wide-open arms: a lush, evocative, dramatic setting of “Stabat Mater” by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins.  The hour-long work will be the centerpiece of the concert. After the performance, the church’s carillon will toll 33 times (to symbolize the 33 years of Jesus’ life) and the evening will conclude with the final chorus from Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion.” The concert is free of admission charges, although an offering will be taken to help defray expenses.

In addition to the Kirk Choir and about 20 guest singers and the Pasadena Singers, “Stabat Mater” uses two soloists and a 40-piece orchestra with a large percussion contingent that includes a number of instruments native to the Middle East. Dr. Timothy Howard will conduct.

To the original Latin words — a series of 20 couplets — Jenkins added six texts using English, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, the language in the Middle East at the time Jesus was born. “One of the texts, ‘Are You Lost Out of Darkness?’ comes from the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” explains Jenkins, “the world’s oldest written story, recorded on clay tablets in the 7th century BCE and based on material from the third millennium BCE. “ Another section, “Now my life is only weeping” is by Jalal al-Din Rumi, the 13th-century Persian mystic poet. Contrasting those ancient texts, “Lament” — perhaps the most haunting section in the entire work — was written by contemporary English composer and librettist Carol Barratt.

This is an evening you won’t want to miss — it will be the highlight of your Holy Week observances. It’s also a great chance to invite friends who aren’t members to experience the great music program at Pasadena Presbyterian Church