By the side of via crucis
Passion Oratorio for Mixed Choir, Piano and Double Bass
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Barna Szabó: By the Side of the Via Crucis – Passion Oratorio for Mixed Choir, Piano and Double Bass
The Passion composed for mixed choir, piano, and double bass, was created in 2015, partly as a result of the decisive experience of listening to György Orbán's 1998 Hungarian Passion. Another inspiration came from Péter Erdei, conductor of the New Liszt Ferenc Chamber Choir, who suggested that the work should be based exclusively on the choir to depict the story of Jesus' suffering. The text compiled by the composer uses a unique approach, highlighting only those passages from the Gospels and other Biblical texts that relate to a particular character in the story, while the sentences are sung not by soloists but by the choir as a community. "Presenting the events of the Passion in this way speaks of the general ignorance, misunderstanding and scandal surrounding the truth in every age," writes the composer.
The four-part mixed choir sings mostly with divided soprano and bass parts, with the exception of the IVth movement (Pilate scene and the crucifixion). Here the composer divides the choir in two according to the cori spezzati tradition, separating them physically as well (as stated in the libretto instructions), and then "on the right and left sides of the baritone part, like two lators, the damned and the blessed together (blindly) contemplate the inconceivable: God's mysterious death and apotheosis."
I. My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death (Acceptance of the cup)
II. Whom seek ye? (The Arrest)
III. A still, small voice
IV. What is truth? (The scene with Pilate and Jesus’ death on the Cross)
V. Daughters of Jerusalem
Barna Szabó: By the Side of the Via Crucis – Passion Oratorio for Mixed Choir, Piano and Double Bass
The Passion composed for mixed choir, piano, and double bass, was created in 2015, partly as a result of the decisive experience of listening to György Orbán's 1998 Hungarian Passion. Another inspiration came from Péter Erdei, conductor of the New Liszt Ferenc Chamber Choir, who suggested that the work should be based exclusively on the choir to depict the story of Jesus' suffering. The text compiled by the composer uses a unique approach, highlighting only those passages from the Gospels and other Biblical texts that relate to a particular character in the story, while the sentences are sung not by soloists but by the choir as a community. "Presenting the events of the Passion in this way speaks of the general ignorance, misunderstanding and scandal surrounding the truth in every age," writes the composer.
The four-part mixed choir sings mostly with divided soprano and bass parts, with the exception of the IVth movement (Pilate scene and the crucifixion). Here the composer divides the choir in two according to the cori spezzati tradition, separating them physically as well (as stated in the libretto instructions), and then "on the right and left sides of the baritone part, like two lators, the damned and the blessed together (blindly) contemplate the inconceivable: God's mysterious death and apotheosis."
I. My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death (Acceptance of the cup)
II. Whom seek ye? (The Arrest)
III. A still, small voice
IV. What is truth? (The scene with Pilate and Jesus’ death on the Cross)
V. Daughters of Jerusalem
