Joseph Haydn: Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross
The latest recording by award-winning pianist David Jalbert is a piano transcription of Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross. Originally commissioned as an orchestral work to be performed on Good Friday, The Seven Last Words are a musical rendering of Christ’s final moments as reported by the four evangelists. Following its initial success, Haydn arranged the work for string quartet and later authorized an anonymous transcription for keyboard. The work’s final incarnation as an oratorio emerged in 1796, several years before The Creation and The Seasons.
Tracks
- Intrada : Maestoso e Adagio
- Sonate I : Largo Pater, dimitte illis, quia nesciunt quid, faciunt
- Sonate II : Grave e Cantabile Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso
- Sonate III : Grave Ecce Mulier Filius tuus
- Sonate IV : Largo Deus meus, Deus meus et quid dereliquisti me?
- Sonate V : Adagio Sitio
- Sonate VI : Lento Consummatum est
- Sonate VII : Largo In manus tuas Domini, commendo Spirito meum
- Il Terremoto : Presto
As for the final “Earthquake,” Jalbert supplements the printed text both there (and a bit elsewhere) very sensitively, to provide fuller textures and a more graphic response to the music’s expressive intentions. Warmly engineered, this very attractive release deserves consideration both for its own sake, and if you’re interested in the various iterations of this singular Haydn masterpiece.
– CLASSICS TODAY
