Sir John Stainer's The Crucifixion
Sir John Stainer's The Crucifixion
Sir John Stainer's The Crucifixion
- soloists -
Nathan M. Carlisle, tenor; David Crawford, bass-baritone;
Daniel F. Collins, Clinton Curtis, Daniel Hoy baritones
- chancel choir -
Soprano: Lori Engle, Doreen Scott Fryling, Tonna L. Miller-Vallés, Melissa Raymond, Catherine Thorpe, Phyllis Whitehouse.
Alto: Sónia Batten, Agueda Fernández-Abad, Yonah Gershator, Katherine Johnson, Mary Runyan Marathe, Monica Soto-Gil.
Tenor: David Fryling, Nicholas Houhoulis, Johnny Maldonado, Riley Kyle Soter.
Bass: Jeffrey Caldwell, Daniel F. Collins, William S. Crutchfield III, Clinton Curtis,
Daniel Hoy, Ellsworth G. Stanton III, Ryan Stoudt.
prelude Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
“Prélude” (Suite pour orgue, op. 5)
Tate C. Addis, organist
THE crucifixion
1. Recitative (Tenor)
And they came to a place named Gethsemane, and Jesus saith to His disciples: Sit ye here, while I shall pray.
4. Recitative (Bass)
And when they were come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right, and
the other on the left.
5. * Hymn The Mystery of the Divine Humiliation
To be sung by the Congregation and Choir
6. Recitative (Bass)
He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and
being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, ev’n the death of the Cross.
7. Solo (Tenor)
King ever glorious! The dews of death are gath’ring round Thee, upon the Cross Thy foes have bound Thee, Thy strength
is gone! Not in Thy Majesty, robed in Heaven’s supremest splendor; but in weakness and surrender, Thou hangest here.
Who can be like Thee? Pilate high in Zion dwelling? Rome with arms the world compelling? Proud tho’ they be! Thou art
sublime. Far more awful in Thy weakness, more than kingly in Thy meekness, Thou Son of God. Glory, and honor: Let the
world divide and take them; crown its monarchs and unmake them; but Thou wilt reign. Here in abasement; crownless,
poor, disrobed, and bleeding; There in glory interceding; Thou art the King!
8. Recitative (Bass)
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
9. Chorus
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be
saved.
10. * Hymn Litany of the Passion
To be sung by the Congregation and Choir
18. Chorus
From the Throne of His Cross, the King of grief cries out to a world of unbelief: Oh! men and women afar and nigh, is it
nothing to you, all ye that pass by? I laid My eternal power aside, I came from the Home of the Glorified, a babe in the lowly
cave to lie. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? I wept for the sorrows and pains of men, I healed them, and helped them,
and loved them, but then, they shouted against Me, “Crucify! Crucify! Crucify!” Is it nothing to you? Behold Me and see:
pierced thro’ and thro’ with countless sorrows, and all is for you; for you I suffer, for you I die. Is it nothing to you all ye that
pass by? Oh! men and women your deeds of shame, your sins without reason, and number, and name, I bear them all on this
Cross on high. Is it nothing to you? Is it nothing to you that I bow My Head? And nothing to you that My Blood is shed?
Oh! perishing souls, to you I cry, Is it nothing to you? O come unto me, by the woes I have borne, by the dreadful scourge,
and the crown of thorns, by these I implore you to hear My cry; Is it nothing to you? O come unto Me! This awful price,
Redemption’s tremendous sacrifice, is paid for you. Oh! why will ye die? O come unto me.
19. Recitative (Tenor, Chorus)
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, saith: “I thirst.” When Jesus had received the vinegar, He
saith, “It is finished! Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” And He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.
Silent Prayer
*Recessional Hymn 92
“Beneath the Cross of Jesus”
St. Christopher
Benediction (seated)
Stainer’s activities embraced all fields of academic and cathedral music and he
held posts at various times at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Lon-
don, at the Royal Academy of Music, the College of Organists, and the National
Training School for Music. Failing sight forced him to leave St. Paul’s in 1888, the
year in which he was knighted. The following year he was appointed Professor of
Music at Oxford. He died in Italy in the Spring of 1901.
The Crucifixion is in fact a ‘Meditation’ on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer. It is scored for tenor and bass soloists, SATB
choir and organ. The work is interspersed with hymns for the congregation to sing. The Crucifixion was composed in 1887 for
the use of Stainer’s friend and pupil William Hodge, who was assistant sub-organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral and organist at the St
Marylebone Parish Church, in London. There a performance of the work has been given every Good Friday since its first hearing
in 1887. The text to The Crucifixion was selected and written by Reverend J. Sparrow-Simpson, whose father was a colleague of
Stainer as Succentor and Librarian at St. Paul’s. The text has often been criticized as being rather awkward and amateurish con-
taining a surfeit of Victorian piety. Considerable criticism over the years has not prevented The Crucifixion securing a permanent
position in the English sacred choral repertoire.
Today is the 92nd Good Friday presentation of Stainer’s The Crucifixion at The Brick Church.
easter services
at the Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York
sunday, A pril 20
easter / resurrection of the lord
8:30 a.m. Pre-service music
9:00 a.m. Early Worship Service – Communion
10:30 a.m. Pre-service music
11:00 a.m. Worship Service – Communion