The Seven Last Words of Christ (Haydn)

The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross (German: Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze) is an orchestral work by Joseph Haydn, commissioned in 1786 for the Good Friday service at Oratorio de la Santa Cueva (Holy Cave Oratory) in Cádiz, Spain.

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.

My composition was subject to these conditions, and it was no easy task to compose seven adagios lasting ten minutes each, and to succeed one another without fatiguing the listeners; indeed, I found it quite impossible to confine myself to the appointed limits.

[3] The original 1786 work, for full classical orchestra (instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings), is as follows:[4] The seven meditations on the Last Words are excerpted from all four gospels.

Much of the work is consolatory, but the "Earthquake" brings a contrasting element of supernatural intervention—the orchestra is asked to play presto e con tutta la forza—and closes with the only fortississimo (triple forte) in the piece.

The only other Classical 'multi-piece' which spreads itself across the entire tonal gamut with this architectural breadth is Beethoven's String Quartet in C♯ minor, op.

This version has come under suspicion of authenticity due to an occasionally careless manner of transcription, with crucial wind passages left out and only the accompanimental figures in the strings retained.

[citation needed] Quartets have occasionally created performances that evoked the format of the premiere, with verse readings replacing the original words and sermons.