Lenten Listening
April 16, 2019
Cathedral of Cádiz
ERIC R. writes:
The culmination of our Lenten musical journey focuses on the Austrian Catholic, Franz Joseph Haydn, a composer of the Classical Period. When we say “Classical” music, most people associate this with what I think is best called “Western European Art Music.” But really the Classical period was a specific artistic phase in its own right. It spanned approximately 1780 to 1825, and was characterized by balanced forms, slow harmonic rhythms (the chords don’t change very much) and clean, simple melodic lines without a lot of ornamentation. The major composers of the era were Haydn, Mozart, early Beethoven, and Boccherini.
The Seven Last Words, a musical meditation on the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross, was commissioned for a Good Friday service in Spain. The work had quite a journey of different musical forms. First, as orchestral “Sonatas” (literally, sounds), then as a string quartet, and finally as an Oratorio (Orchestra, choir, soloists; a kind of religious opera which is not acted out). I’ll let the master speak for himself regarding the origin of the composition. His description of the Good Friday tradition in Spain is fascinating:
Some fifteen years ago I was requested by a canon of Cádiz to compose instrumental music on the Seven Last Words of Our Savior On the Cross. It was customary at the Cathedral of Cádiz to produce an oratorio every year during Lent, the effect of the performance being not a little enhanced by the following circumstances. 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. At midday, the doors were closed and the ceremony began. After a short service the bishop ascended the pulpit, pronounced the first of the seven words (or sentences) and delivered a discourse thereon. This ended, he left the pulpit and fell to his knees before the altar. The interval was filled by music. The bishop then in like manner pronounced the second word, then the third, and so on, the orchestra following on the conclusion of each discourse. 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.
Composers work best under constraints. When they are given outside constraints like the ones described above, their creativity can soar. Stravinsky talked about how much easier he found composing under non-musical constraints (such as text or dancers, etc).
The Seven Last Words by Haydn, is radical in its use of tonalities. The tonal journey is thus: Bb Major, c minor, C Major, E Major, f minor, A Major, g minor, G Major, Eb Major, c minor.
The juxtaposition of these keys is innovative. The closest relationships are from Major to minor in the same key, and the last two keys of Eb Major and c minor. But besides that, most of the relationships are very distant and jarring. For instance going from E Major to f minor is unheard of during the Classical period! Perhaps this has to do with the subject matter, the Crucifixion. So we get a little “modern music” with Franz Joseph after all!
The performance below is the Oratorio version in German.
