Haydn's Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross) is unique in his output. Commissioned in 1785 as an orchestral work for Good Friday by a church in Cádiz, Spain, it posed Haydn considerable problems as he tried to reconcile the general structural principles of the Classical era with a commission that required him, in effect, to write seven slow movements in a row -- and, at a deeper level, to write a really somber work in a musical language made for humor and ...
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Haydn's Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross) is unique in his output. Commissioned in 1785 as an orchestral work for Good Friday by a church in Cádiz, Spain, it posed Haydn considerable problems as he tried to reconcile the general structural principles of the Classical era with a commission that required him, in effect, to write seven slow movements in a row -- and, at a deeper level, to write a really somber work in a musical language made for humor and sunny lyricism. The seven movements, plus opening and central introductions and a final "Terremoto" or earthquake, stand in contrast with one another in both texture and tonality, although all are indeed dark in hue. Haydn apparently was pleased with his solution, for he arranged the work for string quartet and gave permission to Hummel to create a piano version. The final chapter in the work's remarkable story was added when the Baron van Swieten, later the librettist for Die Schöpfung...
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Add this copy of Haydn: the Seven Last Words of Christ to cart. $6.19, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Naïve.
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