{"id":17466,"date":"2019-03-31T20:05:44","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T12:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stuif.com\/blog\/?p=17466"},"modified":"2019-03-31T20:29:43","modified_gmt":"2019-03-31T12:29:43","slug":"the-seven-last-words-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuif.com\/blog\/?p=17466","title":{"rendered":"The Seven Last Words of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a few weeks time it will be Easter, always a time of the year that I get in the mood to listen to Passion music. See for example my posts St Matthew Passion<\/a> and Stabat Mater<\/a> . In this post I will write about another masterpiece of religious music, the Seven Last Words of Christ<\/a>, written in 1786 by Joseph Haydn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those readers who are not familiar with the Christian religion, some information. Christians believe that Jesus was the Son of God and that he came to Earth to save mankind by carrying the burden of their sins. His sufferings culminated in his crucifixion and his death. On the third day he resurrected from his grave and fourty days later he ascended to heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resurrection is celebrated on Easter Sunday (this year on 21 April). On the Friday before in some churches a devotion is held from noon till 3 o’clock , the Three Hours’ Agony, commemorating the three hours of Christ’s hanging at the cross. This devotion was devised in the 17th century in Peru by Jesuit missionaries and soon became popular in Europe. It consisted of sermons and meditation about the seven “words” uttered by Jesus when he was hanging at the cross. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1786 Joseph Haydn was requested by the clergy of the C\u00e1diz Cathedral<\/a> to compose seven instrumental adagios, to be played after each of the “words” and meditations. Not an easy job, as Haydn wrote himself: ” …. it was no easy task to compose seven adagios lasting ten minutes each, and to succeed one another without fatiguing the listeners<\/em> ..<\/font>“. Haydn added an Introduction and a Finale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work became a success immediately and the next year Haydn wrote a version for string quartet. It is this version which is usually performed nowadays. In 1801 he published a choral version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this blog I have used the orchestral version, recorded in 1965 in Barcelona. <\/p>\n\n\n\n