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Program notes - "It is Finished...": Stations of the Cross |
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A Note from the Artistic Director Some of the most poignant choral music ever written surrounds that week wherein the crucifixion of Jesus is remembered throughout Christendom -- Holy Week. And one of the ways in which Jesus' travails are most powerfully remembered by his followers is through the Stations of the Cross -- a sort of allegorical pilgrimage to scenes, places, or events along his path through Jerusalem on that fateful day. A simple concert presentation of the music of Holy Week has its merits, and there is nothing at all wrong with that. However, I have attempted in this concert to infuse the music with a little more immediacy, a little more narrative power, by coupling it with the Stations, due to my conviction that anything carries more weight when viewed within the context of its story -- its mythos, to use the Greek word for 'story.' In doing this, I risk offending any of our audience who are not Christian, by the appearance of a concert that is as close to a religious service as we've ever done; yet it is my hope that our audience will see the intent of my programming in this -- that St. Martin's is and remains a wholly independent, secular ensemble, dedicated to performing the finest choral music of any century, whether sacred or secular. Yet, by placing the music into its narrative context, rather than merely as a museum piece placed on a shelf for admiration, it takes on a new power thereby. The Stations of the Cross, variously called the "Via Crucis" (Way of the Cross) or "Via Dolorosa" (Way of Sorrows), go back to the Middle Ages. The number of the stations and their topics has ranged widely until the current 14 became standardized in the 19th century. Their sources range from the four Gospel accounts to pious legend or tradition. The stations that are directly attributable to the Gospels are Nos. 1, 2, 5, 8, and 10-14. The others -- including the three instances of Jesus falling, his encountering of his mother, and a woman who wipes his face with a cloth (some traditions give her a name: Veronica) -- are drawn wholly from pious legend and have no scriptural basis. Even within the Gospels there appear to be contradictions, as John states quite emphatically that Jesus carried the cross himself to the place of crucifixion, whereas the other three Gospels say that the cross was immediately laid on a passerby (Simon of Cyrene), and that Jesus did not bear it at all. This contradiction has been squared through tradition by suggesting that Jesus started out carrying the cross, but then, due to inability to carry it further, it was transferred to an unsuspecting onlooker, Simon. Still, historical complications aside, this simple
pilgrimage along the way of an innocent man condemned to death retains great power for those who traverse it; and St. Martin's in this case makes the
pilgrimage a musical one, using music from every century since the 16th to tell this dramatic story. I ask that the audience withhold its applause until the end of the concert, such that the contemplative power of the concert retain its efficacy (one could more prosaically call it a "mood"). There will be a long period of silence before the final piece is sung, and the natural tendency will be to applaud during this time; but I ask especially that silence be maintained through this moment. Timothy J. Krueger
© 2006 Timothy J. Krueger |