Musical settings of The Seven Last Words of Christ
The Seven Last Words of Christ refers to the seven short phrases uttered by Jesus on the cross, as gathered from the four Christian Gospels. The Crucifixion of Jesus has served as inspiration to a great many visual artists and composers over the centuries. In particular, at least 16 composers have written musical settings of the Seven Last Words, for various combinations of voice and/or instruments.[1]
The best known of these settings is probably the instrumental setting by Joseph Haydn (see below), who produced two different arrangements of his own work—one of them for choir—and approved a third.
Chronological list of settings
Early Latin motet settings of the ultima septem verba can be found from 1500.[2][3]
16th century
- Orlande de Lassus: Septem verba Domini Jesu Christi 5 voc.
17th century
- Heinrich Schütz: Die sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz, SWV 478 (1645), German cantata.
- Augustin Pfleger: Passio, sive Septem Verba Christi in cruce pendentis (c.1670)
18th century
- Pergolesi: Septem verba a Christo in cruce moriente prolata (attributed, 1730-1736)
- Christoph Graupner: Die sieben Worte des Heilands am Kreuz cantata cycle, Darmstadt (1743)
- Joseph Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Christ (1787), an instrumental meditation commissioned for Cadiz in Lent. Haydn later arranged it as an oratorio and for string quartet, and approved his publisher's arrangement for solo piano.
- Francisco Javier García Fajer: Septem ultima verba christi in cruce (1787), Latin oratorio
- Giuseppe Giordani alias «Giordaniello»: Tre ore dell’Agonia di N.S. Gesù Cristo (1790), oratorio[4]
19th century
- Nicola Antonio Zingarelli: Tre ore dell’Agonia (1825), oratorio[5]
- Saverio Mercadante: Le sette ultime parole di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo (1838), oratorio
- Andrea De Simone: Agonia di Gesù (1841), oratorio
- Charles Gounod: Les Sept Paroles de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ sur la Croix (1855), choral work
- César Franck: Les Sept Paroles du Christ sur la Croix (1859), choral work
- Théodore Dubois: Les sept paroles du Christ (1867), choral work
- Fernand de La Tombelle: Les sept Paroles de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ
- José Alexandrino de Sousa: As Sete Palavras de N. S. Jesus Christo na Cruz
20th century
- Charles Tournemire: Sept Chorals-Poèmes pour les sept Paroles du Christ for organ (1935)
- Knut Nystedt: "Jesu syv ord på korset" op. 47, Oratorium for solo and mixed choir The Seven Words from the Cross (1960).[6]
- Alan Ridout: The Seven Last Words for organ (1965)
- "The Crucifixion" from Jesus Christ Superstar (1969), by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Douglas Allanbrook The Seven Last Words for mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra (1970)
- Sofia Gubaidulina Sieben Worte for cello, bayan, and strings (1982)
- James MacMillan: Seven Last Words from the Cross, cantata for choir and strings (1993)
- Ruth Zechlin: Die sieben letzten Worte Jesu am Kreuz for organ (1996)
21st century
- Benedikt Burghardt: The 7 Last Words for mixed choir, 2 violins, violoncello, double bass and organ (2004)
- Benjamin Cornelius-Bates: The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross for SATB choir, baritone soloist, organ, string quartet and trumpet (2009)
- Jerome Malek: Seven Last Words, cantata for choir, five soloists and orchestra (2010)
- Tristan Murail: Les Sept Paroles for orchestra, chorus and electronics (2010)
- Gareth Wilson: Logos for unaccompanied choir (2010)
- Daan Manneke: The Seven Last Words Oratorio for chamber choir (2011)
- Daniel Elder: Seven Last Words from the Cross for unaccompanied choir (2012)
- Fabrizio Bastianini: Sette parole for SATB choir, mezzo-soprano, tenore, baritone and strings (2013)
- Paul Carr: Seven Last Words from the Cross for soloist, choir and orchestra (2013)[7]
- Stephen DeCesare The Seven Last Words of Christ for SATB choir, Solo (either male or female), Tenor Solo, Strings, Oboe, French Horn, Piano and Organ (2015)
See also
References
- ↑ Church Music – 1973 – Page 10 "Eventually these settings of the Seven Words became a separate form of Passion music. Perhaps the most outstanding work in this genre in the Lutheran tradition is the work of Heinrich Schtüz.10 A number of composers in the first generations ..."
- ↑ Literature, Music, Fine Arts – 22-24 1989 p189-190 "Langrock, Klaus. Die sieben Worte Jesu am Kreuz. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Passionsmusik (Ph.D., Musicology, Bochum, 1987) ...The present book, a dissertation of the University of Bochum, deals with settings of the Seven Words on the Cross, which are ... France and Italy since 1500, published or unpublished, which are based on the text of all the Words on the Cross."
- ↑ Raymond Dittrich Die sieben letzten Worte Jesu in der Musik – 2001
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7vDO_PzBEw
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkgFJ5Z3Sa0
- ↑ Knut Nystedts choral music
- ↑ "Browse sheet music by Composer"
External links
- Free scores of The Seven Last Words of Christ in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
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