Via crucis (Liszt)

Age portrait of Franz Liszt by Louis Held (1884)

Via crucis (The 14 Stations of the Cross) is a work for mixed choir, soloists and organ or harmonium by Franz Liszt (1811–1886). There is also an autograph version for choir, soloists and piano, which does not differ in its musical substance. The work was written in Rome in September and October 1878 and completed in Budapest in February 1879.

construction

The work consists of 15 movements. An introductory movement, which uses two stanzas from the Latin hymn Vexilla Regis , is followed by 14 pieces dedicated to the 14 stations of the cross . In addition to quotations from the Passion reports in Latin , Liszt uses a half-strophe from the Stabat mater , his own arrangements of the hymns O head full of blood and wounds and O sadness, o heartache! and in the 14th station another verse from Vexilla Regis.

introduction: Organ and choir

1. Vexilla regis prodeunt, fulget crucis mysterium, quo carne carnis conditor suspensus est patibulo.	1. The king's banner stands forward; the mystery of the cross shines out, on the beam of which the Creator of the flesh in the flesh is hung.
3. Impleta sunt, quae concinit David fideli carmine dicendo nationibus: Regnavit a ligno Deus.	3. What is fulfilled is what David proclaimed in reliable song when he said to the peoples: God reigns from the wood.
Hymn in Honore sanctae crucis / Hymus in honor of the Holy Cross Venantius Fortunatus , Bishop of Poitiers (569)

Station 1 - Jesus is sentenced to death: Organ and bass

Innoncens ego sum a sanguine justi hujus.	I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man. ( Mt 27.24 EU )

Station 2 - Jesus carries his cross: Organ and bass

Ave, crux!	Greetings, cross! see station 14

Station 3 - Jesus falls for the first time: Organ and choir

Jesus cadit.	Jesus falls.
Stabat mater dolorosa Iuxta crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat filius;	The painful mother stood crying by the cross on which her son was hanging.
Stabat mater , Mary sequence from the 13th century

Station 4 - Jesus meets his mother: organ
Station 5 - Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross: organ
Station 6 - Sancta Veronica (Veronica hands Jesus the handkerchief): Organ and choir

O head full of blood and wounds , full of pain and full of scorn! O head, bound in mockery with a crown of thorns! Oh head, otherwise beautifully adorned with the highest honor and ornament, but now most insulted, greetings to you! ( Paul Gerhardt , 1656)

Station 7 - Jesus falls the second time: Organ and choir

Jesus cadit.	Jesus falls.
Stabat mater dolorosa Iuxta crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat filius;	The painful mother stood crying by the cross on which her son was hanging.
Stabat mater , Mary sequence from the 13th century

Station 8 - The women of Jerusalem (Jesus meets the weeping women): Organ and bass

Nolite flere super me, sed super vos ipsas flete et super filios vestros	Do not weep for me, but weep for yourself and your children. ( Lk 23.28 EU )

Station 9 - Jesus falls the third time: Organ and choir

Jesus cadit.	Jesus falls.
Stabat mater dolorosa Iuxta crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat filius;	The painful mother stood crying by the cross on which her son was hanging.
Stabat mater , Mary sequence from the 13th century

Station 10 - Jesus is undressed (Jesus is stripped of his clothes): organ
Station 11 - Jesus is nailed to the cross: Organ and choir

Crucifige!	Crucify him!

Station 12 - Jesus dies on the cross: Organ, bass, choir

Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani?	My god, my god, why did you leave me? ( Mt 27.46 EU ) ( Ps 22.2 EU )
In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum.	I command my spirit into your hands. ( Lk 23.46 EU )
Consummatum est.	It is finished. ( Joh 19.30 EU )
1 O sadness, o heartache, is that not to be deplored? God the Father, one child, is carried to the grave. ( Friedrich Spee , Mainz, 1628)

Station 13 - Jesus is taken from the cross: organ
Station 14 - Jesus is placed in the grave: Organ and choir

6. Ave crux, spes unica, mundi salus et gloria, auge piis justitiam, reisque dona veniam. Amen Ave crux!	6. Greetings, cross, only hope; Salvation and honor of the world, increase the righteousness of the faithful and show mercy to sinners. Amen
Hymn in Honore sanctae crucis / Hymn for the honor of the Holy Cross

Web links

Via Crucis (Franz Liszt) , ChoralWiki, Choral Public Domain Library
Via Crucis, p.53 (Liszt, Franz) , International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
Peter Simonett: Via crucis - The Way of the Cross by Franz Liszt , Mater Dolorosa (Berlin-Lankwitz)

Individual evidence

↑ Thomas Kohlhase (Tübingen 1977) in the foreword to: Franz Liszt: Via Crucis Carus 40.173 pp. 2-3.

[Carus40.173-1] Thomas Kohlhase (Tübingen 1977) in the foreword to: Franz Liszt: Via Crucis Carus 40.173 pp. 2-3.