Performing Score Choral;
French Horn; Organ
Accompaniment
(Performance Score)
SKU: HL.267548
For Solo French Horn,
SATB/SATB divisi and
Organ Performing
Score. Composed by
John Tavener. Choral.
Classical. Octavo. 32
pages. Duration 720
seconds. Chester Music
#CH83226. Published by
Chester Music
(HL.267548).
This work is
based on the biblical
story of the martyrdom of
Saint Stephen,
traditionally regarded as
the first Christian
martyr, asrecounted in
the Acts of the Apostles.
Stephen was a member of
the early Church in
Jerusalem. He was an
inspired and charismatic
preacher, but he aroused
great hostility among the
members of the various
synagogues by his
teachings, and he was
accused of blasphemy. At
his trial he looked up to
heaven and declared that
he saw God in his Glory,
with Jesus standing at
his right hand. This so
enraged the authorities
that he was flung from
the city and stoned to
death. As he died, he
prayed that the Lord
Jesus would receive his
spirit, and that his
killers would beforgiven.
In this setting the choir
recounts the story in
Latin, whilst the solo
horn music depicts the
violence of the stoning.
The work endswith a
quotation from Chopin's
Ballade No. 2 in F, Op.
38. Commissioned by the
Metropolitan and
Cathedral Chapter of St.
Stephen's Cathedral,
Vienna. First performed
on 16th March 2015 at St
Stephen's Cathedral,
Vienna, by the Cathedral
Choir conducted by Markus
Landerer.
John Stephens
