UIMA invites you to hear Haydn's  The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross which he wrote in 1786 in response to a commission from the bishop of Spain’s Cadiz Cathedral. The bishop requested music to accompany the cathedral’s Good Friday service that year. In addition to introductory and concluding sections, Haydn wrote a movement for each of Jesus’ last sayings or utterances during the crucifixion.

The work has nine movements sometimes referred to as “sonatas” or “meditations”: seven Adagios, each based on Christ’s last utterances, framed by an Introduction and a dramatic conclusion in Il terremoto (The Earthquake). Each one is in a different key and remarkably varied.  Haydn's work will be performed by the Village Strings at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Cathedral on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 7 pm .