Haydn: The Seven Words available on February 08 2016 from Amazon for 14.16
Haydn: Seven Words (The) available on March 14 2015 from Base for 12.39
UPC bar code 028946178027 ξ1 registered February 08 2016
UPC bar code 028946178027 ξ2 registered February 08 2016
UPC bar code 028946178027 ξ3 registered September 27 2014
Product category is MUSIC CD - CD - Classical Audio
Manufacturered by ECM
Product weight is 0.2 lbs.
NEW Combo BLUWAVS CD and FLAC FILE On this recording of The Seven Words, the Rosamunde String Quartet offers a compelling rendition of one of Haydn's most complex compositions. The Seven Words was originally composed for a full orchestra as a series of seven adagios, which were meant to be interludes during a congregation's meditations on the last seven words of Christ on the Cross. Haydn struggled with a way to compose seven connected pieces of music that were solemn and yet varied enough to keep the listener from getting bored. The members of the Rosamunde Quartet are technically brilliant as they demonstrate the composer's solutions to this musical puzzle. Even though the tempo is slow, they never let the music become ponderous or oppressive. But to Haydn, The Seven Words was more than just an aural conundrum. He felt the composition was perhaps his most sacred work, and the quartet plays this music with reverence for the composer's spiritual intentions. This is a profound piece of music, and the Rosamunde does it justice on each of its many levels. --Michael Simmons
The full title of Haydn's composition is usually given as The Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ from the Cross. The shorter version above is given on the back cover; the front cover and spine feature the even more truncated (and secularized) The Seven Words. (Note that "words" would be better translated as "sayings" or "utterances.") There are several recordings available of this piece arranged for chamber orchestra, but you can see from the header above, this arran..
