The first recording features the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, along with two soloists, Lithuanian mezzo-soprano Jurgita Adamonyte, and English musician Belinda Sykes, who both sings and performs on the duduk, an Armenian reed instrument.

Stabat Mater focuses on the suffering of Mary, but unlike most adaptations of the text, Jenkins uses languages other than Latin and his native English.

They include a choral arrangement of the "Ave verum" Jenkins originally wrote for Bryn Terfel; "And The Mother Did Weep," which features a single line sung simultaneously in English, Latin, Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew; "Lament," a poem by Jenkins' wife Carol Barratt; and "Incantation," which is partly sung in early Arabic.

The addition of the Armenian duduk (or ney) heightens the Eastern atmosphere, and its deep double-reeded sound adds a richer, more resonant dimension to the work than can perhaps be achieved using orchestra alone.

[2] The first movement is an extended variation of a piece from Adiemus, Cantus: Song of Tears, using the same format (with soft introduction preceding the main melody) and harmonisation.