Product Description Haydn considered "The Seven Last Words of the Saviour" to be one of his greatest works. Written originally for large orchestra, it was commissioned for the Holy Week of 1786. The string quartet version places very special demands on the performers: it is one of the longest works for string quartet in the classical repertoire, consisting of seven slow movements which call for finely calibrated levels of expressive possibility. Only the greatest of quartets have risen to the challenge and now the Rosamunde Quartett joins their ranks with a powerful and persuasive performance. The Munich-based Rosamunde Quartett has been making waves since its ECM debut in 1996 with their recording of Webern/Shostakovich/Burian which won the German Record Critics' Award. Their subsequent collaboration with Argentinian bandoneonist Dino Saluzzi on the Kultrum project was described by Gramophone as "easily among the best recordings I've heard this year" and voted Gramophone Editor's Choice. Recorded 2000 Personnel: Rosamunde Quartett: Andreas Reiner - (violin), Simon Fordham - (violin), Helmut Nicolai - (viola), Anja Lechner - (cello) Amazon.com On this recording of The Seven Words, the Rosamunde String Quartet offers a compelling rendition of one of Haydn's most complex compositions. The Seven Words was originally composed for a full orchestra as a series of seven adagios, which were meant to be interludes during a congregation's meditations on the last seven words of Christ on the Cross. Haydn struggled with a way to compose seven connected pieces of music that were solemn and yet varied enough to keep the listener from getting bored. The members of the Rosamunde Quartet are technically brilliant as they demonstrate the composer's solutions to this musical puzzle. Even though the tempo is slow, they never let the music become ponderous or oppressive. But to Haydn, The Seven Words was more than just an aural conundrum. He felt the composition was perhaps his most sacred work, and the quartet plays this music with reverence for the composer's spiritual intentions. This is a profound piece of music, and the Rosamunde does it justice on each of its many levels. --Michael Simmons