Hermit Songs: "The Crucifixion" - Samuel Barber
Hymns: #172 Were You There, #329 Pange Lingua
The anthem for the Good Friday service is taken from Samuel
Barber’s 1953 song cycle Hermit Songs.
Barber (1910-1981) wrote his first piece at age seven, an opera at ten and
entered the Curtis Institute at age fourteen. His father was a physician and
his mother a pianist. His interest in the human voice likely stems from his
aunt and uncle, Louise and Sidney Homer, a contralto and composer of art songs
respectively. The Hermit Songs were
commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation. This set of ten
songs takes its text from the writings of Irish Monks. They were premiered by
Leontyne Price with Barber at the piano in 1953. The Crucifixion is the fifth in the set of ten songs. The text “At
the cry of the first bird” is illustrated in all but 3 measures of the piece. There
are two bird references in the text, the first to a bird whose cry signaled the
beginning of the crucifixion; the second to Christ with at “cheek like a swan.”
The text comes from The Speckled Book
or Lebhar Breac. This is a collection of ecclesiastical writings in Latin and
Irish including hymns, homilies, and legends. This piece delivers the mood of
the service with its stark accompaniment and expressive vocal line. The
beautiful and tragic images of Christ and the references to his mother Mary
capture the many aspects of sadness that were part of that day.
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