El Greco’s The Crucifixion 1596-1600

From Palms to Passiontide

…musical portraits of the progressive pomp and impending peril which comprise the dramatic narration of Holy Week.

Program Broadcast dates:

• Week of March 30, 2009

Links and Resources:

• Text for Crucifixus pro nobis by Kenneth Leighton is available online [scroll down this link].
• Though our recordings of The Crucifixion are either ‘no longer available’ or ‘made in concert,’ several fine performances of the piece can be obtained on current compact disc releases.
• The complete, compelling ‘libretto’ for Stainer’s The Crucifixion, by The Reverend W.J. Sparrow-Simpson, is available online.
• Printable program listings

Music played in the program

Hour 1

JEAN LANGLAIS: Te Deum –Jean Langlais (1859 Cavaillé-Coll/Basilique Sainte-Clotilde, Paris, France) Solstice CD-01

JEAN LANGLAIS: Les Rameaux, from Poemes Evangeliques –Ann Labounsky (1977 Casavant Frères/Cathedral of St. Peter, Erie, PA) MHS CD-424127

JOHN STAINER: The Crucifixion, selections, Numbers 1—3 & 7 –Richard Lewis, tenor; Owen Brannigan, bass; Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge, George Guest, conductor; Brian Bunnett (1994 Mander/St. John College Chapel, Cambridge, England, UK) Argo LP-5320

KENNETH LEIGHTON: Crucifixus pro nobis –James Oxley, tenor; Choir of St. John’s College, Christopher Robinson, conductor; Christopher Whitton (1994 Mander/St. John College Chapel, Cambridge, England, UK) Naxos 8.555795

Filler –JOHN STAINER: God so loved the world, from The Crucifixion; Chandos CD-9951

Hour 2

NOEL RAWSTHORNE: Psalm 130, Out of the Deep –Liverpool Cathedral Choir, Ronald Woan, conductor; Noel Rawsthorne (1926 Henry Willis & Sons/Anglican Cathedral, Liverpool, England, UK) Priory PRCD104

SIGFRID KARG-ELERT: Preludes & Postludes, Opus 78, numbers 2—7 Aus tiefer Not; Christe, du Lamm Gottes; Alles is an Gottes Segen; Aus meines Herzens Grunde; Christus der ist mein Leben; Dir, dir, Jehova, will ich singen –Stefan Engels (1931 Steinmeyer/Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Altoona, PA) Priory PRCD830

JOHN STAINER: The Crucifixion, selections, Numbers 10—20 –John Aler, tenor; Philip Cutlip, bass; Choir of Brick Church, Keith Toth, conductor; Paul-Martin Maki (1986 Austin/Brick Presbyterian, New York, NY) Pipedreams Archive recorded July 9, 1996

Filler –JOHN STAINER: God so loved the world, from The Crucifixion; Chandos CD-9951