The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross is unique in being both sacred and instrumental, but which thanks to its composer later grew beyond the limits of the genre. It is indeed a one-off, unclassifiable work; its composer could do more than designate it simply as “instrumental music”. The cycle exists thanks to an ecclesiastical commission from the town of Cádiz. In 1801 the composer recalled the strange circumstances surrounding the commission and the premiere (1787): “About fifteen years ago a canon from Cádiz asked me to compose an orchestral work for the seven words of Jesus on the cross. At the time the custom was to perform an oratorio every year at Easter in the Cádiz Cathedral, and the effectiveness of the performance was due in no small measure to the arrangements below. – The walls, windows and columns of the cathedral were covered in black cloth, and only one, large lamp hanging in the centre shone in the solemn darkness. At noon every door was closed; then the music sounded. After a suitable prelude the bishop went up to the pulpit, said one of the seven words, then added a reflection to it. When he had finished, he descended from the pulpit and knelt before the altar. This interval was filled with music. The bishop went up and down a second, and third time and so on, and every time he finished speaking, music was played.”

Haydn himself sensed how exceptional this work was, and did everything to disseminate it more widely: thus from the original orchestral version he made a string quartet and a fortepiano transcription, and a version complemented by a choir.

Zsombor Tóth Vajna will play the piece on a replica of an Anton Walter fortepiano from 1804.

www.toth-vajna.com