Following the huge success of the event last year, the Galway Music Residency is delighted to present Haydn’s: The Seven Last Words of Christ again on Holy Thursday 29th March, 8pm. The event will take place in the Bank of Ireland Theatre, NUI Galway (beside the O’Donoghue Centre) and not in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall as previously advertised in the Galway Music Residency’s January-June Event Brochure.

Originally commissioned in the 1780s by the Archbishop of Cadiz to punctuate his own sermons on the Words as part of an Easter service, the work was first performed on Good Friday, 1787, as part of the midday service. The cathedral’s walls, windows and columns were clothed in black; the only light came from a single central lamp; and the huge cathedral doors were locked at the start of the service.

For this performance, the Archbishop’s sermons have been replaced by Pulitzer-prize winning Mark Strand’s Poem After the Seven Last Words. This series of seven meditations will be delivered by Galway-based actress Helen Gregg with Haydn’s exquisite music following each sermon performed by the Galway ConTempo Quartet.

Haydn’s celebrated work considers Christ’s anguish on the cross and has been described as a work deeply revealing of the human condition. It is considered among the great pieces of Easter music.

Tickets: €12/€7 are available on https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/haydn-the-seven-last-words-of-christ-tickets-42978266151 with limited tickets available on the door. For further information, visit www.thegalwaymusicresidency.ie or call 091-586706. The Galway Music Residency is supported by NUI Galway (Education Partner), The Arts Council, Galway City and County Councils, and GMIT.