Unlike in the well-known settings of the "Seven Words" by Schütz or Haydn, Franck comments on the sayings of the crucified Jesus in his opulently scored composition with passages from the Old and New Testaments as well as parts of the "Stabat mater". In his tonal realization of the Latin texts, Franck unfolds a rich palette of compositional parameters: "different instrumentations, attractive instrumentation, formal variety and differentiated harmonies. Lamentations, simple chorale passages, sections of great drama, melodic arrangements full of sweetness give the listener a multi-layered impression of a composition characterized by a strong personal will to express." Württembergische Blätter for Church Music 1/1991
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