The Seven Last Words of Christ (Arrangement for String Quartet Hob. XX/1B Set of Parts). Composed by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Edited by Christin Heitmann. For String Quartet. Henle Music Folios. 74 pages. G. Henle #HN851. Published by G. Henle (HL.51480851).
At the end of the 18th century, the town of Cádiz in southern Spain provided the backdrop for a Passion to mark Christ's hour of death; its focal point was the reading and interpretation of Christ's last words. Haydn was commissioned to write short meditative music to be played alternately with the readings. Haydn composed a work for orchestra. Due to its success, the publisher commissioned Haydn to make an arrangement for string quartet. As the wind instruments double the strings for the most part, only a few changes had to be made to the string parts. We present the arrangement for string quartet based on the musical text of the Haydn Complete Edition (in preparation).