Excerpts from the Oratorio
'The Seven Words of our
Redeemer on the Cross'
Introduction
Choral, Father, forgive them Chorus, Lamb of God Choral, Eli,
Eli Chorus , 0 my God, look upon me Intermezzo
Chorus, I thirst
Choral, It is finished
Choral, Father, into thy hands
Chorus, Into thy hands, 0 Lord The Earthquake
The BBC Chorus (Section B), the BBC Orchestra (Section E) (led by Thomas Peatfield ), conducted by Leslie Woodgate
The history of Haydn's Seven Words of our Redeemer on the Cross, written in 1785, was told by the composer himself in the preface of the 1801 edition: 'About fifteen years ago I was requested by a canon of Cadiz to compose instrumental music on the Seven Words of Jesus on the Cross. It was the custom of the Cathedral of Cadiz to produce an oratorio every year during Lent .... After a short service the bishop ascended the pulpit, pronounced one of the Seven Words (or sentences) and delivered a discourse thereon. This ended, he left the pulpit and knelt prostrate-, before the altar. The pause was filled by the music. The bishop then in like manner pronounced the second word, then the third, and so on, the orchestra falling in at the conclusion of each discourse. My composition was to be subject to these conditions, and it was no easy matter to compose seVen adagios to last ten minutes each, and follow one after the other without fatiguing the listeners.'
Some years later Haydn heard a choral arrangement of his string adagios, made by Joseph von Friebert, Kapellmeister at Passau. ' I think I could have done better', he remarked. He did so, with the result listeners will hear this evening, though his own choral version is actually based to some extent on Friebert's.