Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Musical settings of The Seven Last Words of Christ

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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.

Contents

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.

16th century

  • Orlande de Lassus: Septem verba Domini Jesu Christi, 5 voices

    • 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 Cádiz 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

    • 19th century

  • Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli: Tre ore dell'Agonia (1825), oratorio
  • Saverio Mercadante: Le sette ultime parole di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo (1838), 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

    • 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).
  • 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

  • Tristan Murail: Les Sept Paroles for orchestra, chorus and electronics (2010)
  • Daan Manneke: The Seven Last Words Oratorio for chamber choir (2011)
  • Paul Carr: Seven Last Words from the Cross for soloist, choir and orchestra (2013)
  • Adrian Korchinski: Seven Words Of Jesus On The Cross for orchestra, "See Link, at Soundcloud.com/adrian-korchinski/dialogue ".

    • References

    Musical settings of The Seven Last Words of Christ Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA