Haydn: The Seven last Words
It is rather unusual for a composer to publish his or her own work in three different versions. But that is exactly what Joseph Haydn did with his setting of Die Sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words): The work exists in the original version for orchestra, then in an arrangement for string quartet, and – with the addition of voices and modified orchestration – in oratorio form. It would certainly not be wrong to interpret these three arrangements as a sign of the personal pride Haydn took in his composition.
