Fitzwilliam String Quartet - Haydn The Seven Last Words - MusicWeb

Haydn originally composed this music, for performance in Holy Week in Madrid, for chamber orchestra, with spoken interjections before each of the musical responses.  It's best known nowadays in its string quartet arrangement, of which there are numerous good recordings, not least that by the Kodaly Quartet on Naxos, available to download from classicsonline.com.  This version from the Fitzwilliam Quartet has the advantage of using authentic instruments and employing slightly faster tempi than usual, for reasons explained in the fine booklet of notes, available to download in pdf format and to print out, with some striking artwork.