This was the dream of the current director of the Claves label: to record his favourite work ever, in its original version and with a pioneer of Baroque interpretation, Ton Koopman. One of Joseph Haydn's most mature works, The Seven Last Words were commissioned by the Holy Cave Oratory in Cadiz, for its inauguration in 1786, on Good Friday.
Haydn told of the particular circumstances of the creation: in a church shrouded in black, the priest proclaimed each word and then prostrated himself during each sonata. The work is surrounded by a meditative introduction and an apocalyptic earthquake. In the centre, seven slow movements in sonata form follow one another, in which we find the young Haydn's Sturm und Drang vein and his maturity brought to light by his imminent London triumphs from 1791 onwards.
Ton Koopman, master of the complete recording of Bach and Buxtehude cantatas, often approached Haydn and his symphonies, but this is indeed the first time that he has recorded The Seven Last Words, together with an orchestra of great tradition, the Berner Symphonieorchester. © Claves Records