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16 HAYDN
In his transcription for quartet, Haydn made no attempt to recreate the grandeur
of the first version, even if it is easy to perceive the solemn dimension of the piece
right from the introduction, Maestoso ed Adagio. He wanted good amateurs to
be able to play without too much difficulty the settings of the SevenWords (which
Haydn called ‘sonatas’) and the slow introduction and finale which he had added to
the original scheme.
If one takes a closer look, it becomes clear that the work combines Classical
expressionwith a Baroque structure. The Baroque style carries the biblical text in its
immutable tradition, while the timbres produced by the stringed instruments go
considerably beyond the canons of Classicism, then at its zenith. Haydnmanifestly
expresses his wish to stimulate new narrative, dramatic, and lyrical expressions.
He is conscious of a form of musical anachronism, since, in the past, it would have
been inconceivable to set the Seven Last Words for the string quartet medium,
which was by its very essence dedicated to entertainment.
The bishop’s homilies are no longer the primary object of the spectacle, since the
four instruments have replaced them. Christ’swords, which are utterances of hope,
of suffering, of thirst, of abandonment, but also of revolt, are no longer expressed
in human speech: they are revealed before they are uttered.
In a letter of April 1787, Haydn explained this transposition of vocal expression to
the instrumental sphere to his English publisher William Forster: ‘Each Sonata, or
rather each setting of the text, is expressed only by means of instrumental music,
but in such a way that it produces the most profound impression even on the
most inexperienced listener. The whole work lasts a little more than one hour, but
there is something of a pause after each Sonata so that one may contemplate the
following text.’