Stabat Mater
Antonín Dvořák's Stabat Mater is a product of personal tragedies: the death of his two-day-old daughter Josefa in 1875, followed by two more children in 1877. Dvořák, a devout man, found solace in composing this piece. Despite his publisher's doubts about its appeal outside Catholic countries, the Stabat Mater, frequently conducted by Dvořák himself, achieved international success.