In 1786 Franz Joseph Haydn received a commission for a work celebrating Good Friday, for the service at Oratorio de la Santa Cueva (Holy Cave Oratory) in Cádiz, Spain. Haydn produced seven slow movements, each modeled after one of the seven storied utterances of Christ on the cross. The profoundly moving work is accompanied by Bach’s transcendent Cantata accepting the reality of death with peace of heart and mind.

Program

Performers
Ryan Speedo Green, Bass-Baritone
Paolo Bordignon, Harpsichord
Orion String Quartet, Ensemble
Timothy Cobb, Double Bass
Stephen Taylor, Oboe