MARCEL DUPRÉ Mario Verdicchio, Organ
Marcel Dupré: Le Chemin de la Croix Op. 29
Mario Verdicchio, Organ
One cannot do justice to the composition “Le Chemin de la Croix” by understanding it as a static, impromptu intuition. The entire work is far too considered for that; it is too musically constructed, too theologically grounded, and the controversial problem of program music is solved far too masterfully here to be considered in such ordinary terms.
The term ‘program music’ refers to the attempt to depict extra-musical actions using musical means. The Stations of the Cross contain themes that encourage this attempt. Jesus’condemnation to death, for example, is associated with a crowd whose rise and fall is akin to the rising and falling of a purely musical drama. The hammer blows at the crucifixion are easily transformed into corresponding rhythms, and the last heartbeats of the dying Jesus realistically fade away.