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Haydn – Mozart
February 4 @ 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Haydn, Die Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob.XX:2
Mozart, Vesperae solennes de confessore, K.339
Les Arts Florissants, W. Christie
The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross is one of Joseph Haydn’s major works, along with The Creation and The Seasons. Composed in response to a commission from the Church of Santa Cueva in Cádiz, Spain for Holy Week, this piece was written in four versions, the last of which, premiered in Vienna in 1796, takes the form of a large oratorio for soloists, choir and orchestra. It is the last work that Haydn conducted in public during his lifetime.
Haydn is associated with his most famous contemporary, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose Solemn Vespers of a Confessor complete the program. If the two works require the same orchestral forces and are similar in their religious dimension, they are also balanced by their complementary tonalities, the solemnity of Haydn finding its counterpoint in the joyful lightness of Mozart.