"The Stations of the Cross" is a musical depiction of events that led up to Christ's death on the Cross and his eventual entombment. It is an impressionest piece of music- music that seeks to illustrate or convey a story.

14 MP3 Songs in this album (63:00) !
Related styles: Classical: Organ, Spiritual: Scriptures, Type: Improvisational

People who are interested in Jean Silvestri Marcel Duprè Paul Claudel should consider this download.


Details:
In the ancient church, pilgrims came to Jerusalem during Holy Week to reenact the final events of the life of Jesus. In the course of time, a tradition grew up which followed the course of events from Pilateâs house to Calvary. Scripture readings and prayers were said at each of these stations. At first the number of stations or devotional stops varied widely. By the sixteenth century, fourteen stations became the fixed number of devotional stops. Of these fourteen, eight are based directly on events recorded in the Gospels, while six (numbers 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 13) are rooted in inferences from the Gospels or from legend. In modern times, this devotional, which carries the worshiper from the condemnation of Jesus at the cross to the entombment, became established in almost all Catholic churches throughout the world. Artistic renditions of these stations were placed on the walls of the church either permanently or in a removable fashion to be brought out for use during Lent and especially during Holy Week. Among Catholics, the service begins with a set of prayers, followed by the movements of the congregation from station to station. A Scripture is read before the station, prayers are said, and a hymn is sung. Then the congregation moves on to the next station.
(Taken from: Webber, Robert E. "The Complete Library of Christian Worship. Volume 5, The Services of the Christian Year." Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. Peabody, Massachusetts, 1993. pp 358-363.
Marcel Duprè's "The Stations of the Cross" was first conceived in the form of an organ improvisation which took place at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, on February 13, 1931. During the program, the fourteen poems of "The Stations of the Cross" by the great French poet, Paul Claudel, were read, and after each, Duprè improvised a musical commentary upon the station and poem text. So many in the audience expressed their regret that nothing should remain of this spontaneous music that Marcel Duprè went home and began writing the work down on paper, working tirelessly to remember and recapture the correct emotion and atmosphere of the improvisation. Its completion took an entire year of writing. The first performance after its inception was given at the Hall of the Trocadèro in Paris on March 18, 1932.
"The Stations of the Cross" is a vast symphonic poem in which several leading themes reoccur. Each Station has its own musical conception. Marcel Dupréâs The Stations of the Cross is typical of something you might expect to experience in a piece of Impressionist art or music composed in the late 1800âs to early 1900âs; that is, the piece of music or art is meant to evoke mental pictures, images, and impressions. The key to experiencing the fullness of this masterpiece lies in the ability to use your imagination. Can you visually place yourself as one in the crowd, perhaps as one of the disciples, as one witnessing the horror of crucifixion on a cruel cross? Allow the music to draw you into the action of the story until finally you are staring face to face at a large stone at the entrance of the tomb, filled with the great hope and expectation of Easter morning. Because this work was intended to be pair with the poetic readings of Claudel's "The Stations of the Cross", I would encourage you to locate a set of the poems and read those before listening to each of the movements of Dupréâs monumental work.
One of the benefits of purchacing a physical copy of the CD rather than a digital download is that included in the CD booklet are pictures of Edenton Street's set of the Haitian Stations of the Cross.