JoSePh haYdn (1732–1809)The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross, op. 51, Hob. III: 50–56 (1787)

(Arrangement from the original orchestral version courtesy of the Emerson String Quartet)

Introduction Sonata I: Vater, vergib ihnen (Father, forgive them) Sonata II: Furwahr, ich sag’ es dir (Verily I say unto you) Sonata III: Frau, hier siehe deinen Sohn (Woman, behold your son) Sonata IV: Mein Gott, mein Gott (My God, my God) Sonata V: Jesus rufet, Ach, mich durstet (Jesus said, I thirst) Sonata VI: Es ist vollbracht (It is finished) Sonata VII: Vater, in deine Hande (Father, into your hands) Il terremoto: Presto e con tutta forza (The earthquake)

Erin Keefe, Jorja Fleezanis, violins; Richard O’Neill, viola; Laurence Lesser, cello

This program begins with remarks by Encounter Leader Michael Parloff, to be followed by the performance of Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross.

August 3Friday, august 3, 8:00 p.m., st. mark’s episcopal Church

Program overvieWFor generations, people of diverse backgrounds and tradi-tions have found spiritual nourishment through works of music, both in a religious context and through the transport-ing power of the communal concert experience. “Inspired” explores these spiritual connections through a work that depicts a story deeply meaningful to many: The Seven Last Words of Christ by Joseph Haydn. Though rooted in the Christian tradition, the piece has the power to speak to peo-ple of all backgrounds. As Michael Steinberg put it, “This is music addressed to all of us. And have we not all known love, sacrifice, compassion, awe, transcendence, and the other fac-ets of experience we encounter in the Passion story?”

SPECIAL THANKS

Music@Menlo dedicates this performance to Jim and Mical Brenzel with gratitude for their generous support.

Gustave Le Gray (1820–1884).An Effect of the Sun. Albumen print from collodion on glass negative, nineteenth century. Photo credit: V & A Images, London/Art Resource, NY

concert program vi:

Inspired: musical meditations

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JoSePh haYdn (Born March 31, 1732, Rohrau, Lower Austria; died May 31, 1809, Vienna)

The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross, op. 51, Hob. III: 50–56

Composed: 1786 or 1787

First performance: Good Friday, 1787

other works from this period: The Paris Symphonies, nos. 82–87 (1785–1786); Six Quartets nos. 36–41 (1787)

approximate duration: 70 minutes

In 1785 or 1786, the cathedral in the Spanish city of Cádiz commis-sioned Joseph Haydn to compose a major work for its Good Friday service. In the Catholic Church, Good Friday marks the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and represents one of the most important dates of the liturgical calendar. The Good Friday observance is a solemn occasion, comprising readings and meditations on each of the seven last words of Christ: seven expressions that appear in the Gospels, reportedly uttered by Jesus during his crucifixion.

Haydn, who was a devout Catholic, was asked to provide orches-tral interludes to accompany the readings. The resultant work, The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross, is one of Haydn’s most original and affecting creations.

The Seven Last Words premiered on Good Friday in 1787; in the same year, Haydn arranged the work for string quartet to enable more widespread performance; in 1796, he prepared a choral version, as well. Haydn wrote in the preface to the choral score:

Some fifteen years ago I was requested by a canon of Cádiz to compose instrumental music on the seven last words of Our Savior on the cross. It was customary at the Cathedral of Cádiz to produce an oratorio every year during Lent, the effect of the performance being not a little enhanced by the following circumstances. The walls, windows, and pillars of the church were hung with black cloth, and only one large lamp hanging from the center of the roof broke the solemn darkness. At midday, the doors were closed and the cere-mony began. After a short service the bishop ascended the pulpit, pronounced the first of the seven words…and deliv-ered a discourse thereon. This ended, he left the pulpit and fell to his knees before the altar. The interval was filled by music. The bishop then in like manner pronounced the sec-ond word, then the third, and so on, the orchestra following on the conclusion of each discourse. My composition was subject to these conditions, and it was no easy task to com-pose seven Adagios lasting ten minutes each and succeeding one another without fatiguing the listeners.

sonata I: LargoThe work is organized into a set of sonatas to accompany each of the seven last words. Following the somber d minor Introduction, Sonata I corresponds to Christ’s first utterance from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The atmosphere turns from dour to warmer hearted, befitting the theme of forgiveness. Also, at the start of each sonata, the first violin offers a melodic setting of the actual Latin text on which the movement is based.

Vln. I

Pa ter,- Pa ter,- di mit- te- il - lis, quia nes ciunt,- quid fa ciunt.-

Throughout The Seven Last Words, Haydn depicts the figure of Jesus very subjectively and, in keeping with the spirit of the Catho-lic doctrine, as being both human and divine. In the first sonata, we encounter Jesus tortured and suffering but speaking about forgiveness with a very serene temper. Later in the movement, though, perhaps giving voice to Jesus’s humanity, Haydn recasts the “Pater, Pater” motif in darker tones.

sonata II: Grave e cantabileThe Gospels tell that Jesus was crucified in between two common thieves: one of the thieves mocked Jesus, but the other, a believer in Jesus’s teachings, was penitent. “Dost not thou fear God,” he asks the other criminal, “seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.” Then, turning to Jesus, the man says, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”

Jesus replies, “Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.”

Vln. I

Ho die- me - cum, ho die- me cum- e ris- in Pa ra- di- so.-

The weary c minor theme that begins this sonata quickly reappears in the brighter key of E-flat major and with a more joyful accompani-ment in the lower strings—a clear representation of Jesus’s vision of heaven.

sonata III: GraveThe Gospel of John makes frequent mention of “the disciple whom Jesus loved”—traditionally considered to be John himself. At the scene of the crucifixion, John and Mary, Jesus’s mother, are grieving at the foot of the cross. Jesus says to Mary, “Woman, behold thy son.” The theo-logical significance of this third word is in its installment of Mary as a comforter, protector, and intercessor to God on behalf of all Christians. The tenderness of Sonata III aptly reflects the spirit of this teaching.

Vln. I

Mu lier,- ec ce- fi - lius tu us.-

sonata IV: LargoThe most poignantly human moment of the Passion story is Jesus’s cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Jesus’s distress per-meates the music of Sonata IV.

Vln. I

De us- me us,- De us- me us,- ut quid- de re- li- qui- sti- me?

The clearest representation of Jesus’s sense of abandonment comes near the end of the movement, when the first violin embarks on a wayward solo cadenza. The chromaticism of this passage gives an impression of the solo violin having lost its harmonic foundation—an apt musical metaphor for Jesus questioning his faith in God.

sonata V: AdagioAnother human moment is depicted in Sonata V: physically defeated and nearing the end, Jesus says, “Sitio”—“I thirst.” The dry pizzicato accompaniment to the first violin’s laconic “Sitio” motif vividly befits the notion of thirst.

Vln. I

Si tio.-

Program Notes: Inspired

*Bolded terms are defined in the glossary, which begins on page 107.

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sonata VI: LentoSonata VI presents the starkest music of the cycle, appropriate to the sixth word: “It is finished.”

Vln. I

Con sum- ma- tum- est.

sonata VII: LargoSonata VII reverently presents Jesus’s dying statement: “Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit.” Despite the resolute character of the theme, Haydn instructs the violins to play with their mutes; violinist Eugene Drucker of the Emerson String Quartet has surmised that the sound of the muted violins might “represent the weakened voice of the Savior at the end of his ordeal. The separation of the human and divine has come at a tremendous cost, which we are made to feel throughout the entire work.”

Vln. I

In ma nus- tu as,- Do mi- ne,- com men- do- spi ri- tum- me um.-

Il terremoto: Presto e con tutta forzaIn the Passion story, Jesus’s death is followed by a terrifying earthquake. Haydn’s Seven Last Words likewise ends with a musical depiction of the earthquake, full of reeling trills and tremolandos and angular melodic fragments. This dramatic postlude, designed to illustrate the chaos of human sinfulness in the wake of the crucifixion, brings what has been a meditative and austere spiritual journey to a suddenly gripping conclu-sion.

—Patrick Castillo