Though Handel’s “Messiah” rightly reigns supreme as the king of music for Easter, there are many other seasonal masterpieces that deserve to be heard more often. Here are ten lesser-known classical works that brilliantly depict the dramatic events of Holy Week and Easter Sunday.
1. “Resurrexit” from the Messe Solennelle, by Hector Berlioz (1824)
The only part of a mighty Mass that the twenty-year-old (!) composer thought worthy of preserving (the rest of the Mass was reconstructed from orchestral parts discovered in a Belgian attic in the early 1990s), Berlioz’s “Resurrexit” is surely the most stirring realization of Jesus’ resurrection in all of music. It also makes one realize again how revolutionary was Berlioz’s music; the Mass was written three years before Beethoven’s death and yet already sounds like a work of post-Beethovenian Romanticism—though its being Berlioz’s music, it resembles no other composer’s work.
2. Stabat Mater, by Antonio Vivaldi (1712)
There have been many beautiful settings depicting the scene of the Mother of God standing in sorrow at the foot of the cross, but none more beautiful than this by “the Red Priest.” Yet more proof that this composer’s famous concertos are in fact the lesser of his creations.
3. Stabat Mater, by Gioachino Rossini (1841)
Rossini’s setting of the scene of the Stabat Mater—whose text comes from a 13th-century hymn possibly written by Pope Innocent III—comes a century and a quarter after the realization by his compatriot Vivaldi, and it is worlds apart in style as well as time. Drawing on the tradition of bel canto (“beautiful singing”) that he helped to make famous, Rossini’s effort is operatic in many sections, never more so than in the second movement, “Cuius animam gementem” (“Through her weeping soul”), in which the tenor sings, to a breezy tune, words of the utmost pathos.
4. The Mystery (Rosary) Sonatas, by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1676)
A series of fifteen short sonatas for violin and continuo based on the mysteries of the Rosary, this work composed by the seventeenth-century Austrian composer Franz Biber was unknown until 1905.
5. The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross, by Franz Joseph Haydn (1787)
Arranged variously for string quartet, orchestra, and orchestra and voices, Haydn’s Seven Last Words are a series of meditations on the seven final statements uttered by Jesus on the Cross.
6. Easter Oratorio, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1725)
Though not as well-known as the St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, Bach’s Easter Oratorio is a masterpiece in its own right.
7. Christ on the Mount of Olives, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1803)
The master’s sole oratorio dates from the same year as the composer’s epic “Eroica” symphony.
8. The Resurrection, by George Friedric Handel (1708)
Overshadowed at Easter by his Messiah, Handel’s oratario deserves to be better-known, as the rousing aria “Disserratevi porte d’averno” proves.
9. The King of the Jews, by Alexander Glazunov (1914)
The Russian composer created this music for a 1908 Mystery Play, employing orchestra and chorus, and drawing on the tradition of Russian Orthodox church music.
10. Lament of the Mother of God, by John Tavener (1988)
The composer himself wrote: “In the Orthodox Church, the Lament of the Mother of God is normally sung on Holy and Great Friday. In its full length it lasts about half and hour, and it is intoned by the Priest or Bishop while the people venerate the Epitaphios (or Shroud of the Dead Christ), which is in the centre of the church and decorated with flowers. The Lament must be sung with an ikon-like stillness and great purity. It grows in intensity as it climbs in tessitura, but without anything sudden or remotely melodramatic. For the Orthodox Church there is never the sense of absolute desolation felt by the Western Church on Good Friday. Hence the cry of the Mother of God ‘Dost thou change my grief to gladness by thy Resurrection?’, followed by the full forces: ‘Rise O God, and judge the earth.'”
This essay was first published here in April 2015.
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The featured image is “The Angel of the Lord Announcing the Resurrection” (circa 1805) by Benjamin West and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Great Selection, Steve!
I think these are brilliant pieces, but I wonder at the lack of any Medieval or Renaissance choral pieces (even Mass settings) among them. I mean, I suppose Bieber counts, but Palestrina? Byrd? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zd8k8AYbVk
Thanks you, Steve. Truly moving and beautiful.
Good for you on these wonderful selections.
I would add as indispensable Francis Poulenc’s Stabat Mater, Arvo Part’s Stabat Mater, Antonin Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Seven Last Words, by James MacMillan, Anton Bruckner’s Mass in F Minor – for the Et ressurexit and the Et expecto — Frank Martin’s oratorio, Golgotha, and Gustav Holst’s ineffably moving part song, “This have I done for my true love.”
I, a simple man, appreciate the suggestions. B
y the way imaginative is my must read site every day.
Wow – thank you. I consider myself at least a passable classical music / sacred music fan but I have missed a few of these. How embarrassing! I will be sure to check them out.
I would add Heinrich Schütz’s “Historia der Auferstehung Jesu Christi.”
Wagner’s “Parsifal”
Easter hymn from Cavelleria rusticana:
Zifferelli film version!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FLbTIzHD9A
(Regina coeli for first minute:
Solist sings from 2:25
Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto.
Ei fulgente ha dischiuso l’avel.
Inneggiamo al Signore risorto—
oggi asceso alla gloria del Ciel!
Let us sing hymns, the Lord is not dead.
Shining, He has unsealed the tomb,
Let us sing hymns to the risen Lord—
ascended today to the glory of Heaven
Another beautiful choral piece is The Seven Last Words of Christ by Theodore DuBois:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6IyktBFoFBA
Two more: Ivan Moody’s Passion and Resurrection, and Sofia Gubaidulina’s St. John Passion.
Thank you for this list.
If I may, can I make the recommendation that Pavel Chesnokov’s “The Angel Cried” be added to the list.
https://youtu.be/vkyP2Xim_5A
I would also recommend Szymanowski’s beautiful setting of the Stabat Mater.
Superb and touching as well. Thank you.
I really love #3, if only they could convince the people to dress properly!
Holst’s “Hymn of Jesus”, English text taken from the apocryphal Gnostic Gospel of St. John.
Steven, darling…no Mozart’s Requiem?
I also second “Parsifal”
and would add Pergolesi’s ‘Stabat Mater’
Arvo Pärt’s “Passio.”
I’ve made a playlist of these over on Spotify if anyone is interested. It’s called “Holy Week Classical” and it is in this order.
GOLGOTHA, the Passion oratorio by the 20th-century Swiss composer Frank Martin. An absolute masterpiece, one of the greatest Passions ever written.
Don’t forget Poulenc’s deeply affecting Stabat Mater.
Pergolesi Stabat Mater should be included: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzOmPUu-F_M
I like The Crucifixion, by John Stainer/ Rimsky’s Russian Easter Overture/ Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs/ And of course Symphony #2 by Gustav Mahler
Very nice site, found some gorgeous music choices for holy week that I downloaded from you tube. Many thanks.