Haydn: Seven Last Words / Prazak Quartet

Haydn's Seven Last Words of our Savior on the Cross was commissioned by the city of C+¡diz in Andalusia for performance at a Good Friday service in 1786. Originally for string orchestra, the work was an immediate success and Haydn's publisher soon issued a version for quartet and a piano reduction (the choral version dates from ten years later). The work is comprised of seven adagios, framed by an introduction and a concluding 'earthquake.' Totally unprecedented in form, conception and content, the work is a marvel of western music and a prime example of Haydn's genius. A staple of the Prazak Quartet's repertoire for forty years, there are few quartets that can match them for their innate understanding of this masterpiece.

Price: $24.98