I composed this piece in 1988 for Holy Week, and made this video in 2023. This year I have remastered the audio track for improved sound fidelity. Program music should always contain recognizable features that indicate a character, and the music should fit the story. I composed this piece in an A-B-A format. That is, the opening and closing theme is the same music that create “bookends” for the content in between. I always envisioned this music performed live with an actor who could recite the Seven Last Words, that is the things Jesus said during His crucifixion as recorded in the four Gospels. By using the video medium, I have included the words as written text, translated in the King James or Authorized Bible of the Church of England (1611) because it works best in a dramatic and artistic manner. Each time Christ speaks I make use of a classic painting of Christ from the various paintings of the crucifixion that were made by Matthias Grunewald (1470 to 1528), mostly because they portray the suffering of Christ. I believe that a straightforward depiction is far more moving, and produces greater feeling, than any attempt to overtly force or manipulate emotion. My intention is to create a work that creates feeling in the person who views the images, reads the words, and hears the music.
As program music requires, I have selected a “voice” for Jesus. His words are always stated by a simple descent in the bass surrounded by a chord progression that suggests a halo, the presence of holiness even in the time of sorrow, pain, and cruel injustice. The Speaker remains elevated, Himself truly above the evil all around Him, unchanged, compassionate, but still vulnerable to the agony of the cross and the pain of death. Nonetheless, He prays for His persecutors, and grants mercy to His fellow sufferer. Thus, the musical imagery is from the heart of Christian belief: He remains divine, and is also suffering as a human being. This is my Holy Week music, especially appropriate for the coming week, especially Palm Sunday and Good Friday.
