The Crucifixion (Stainer)

The Crucifixion: A Meditation on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer is an oratorio composed by John Stainer in 1887. It is scored for a SATB choir and organ, and features solos for bass (or baritone) and tenor.[1] Stainer intended for the work to be within the performance capabilities of most parish church choirs; it includes five hymns for congregational participation.[2] The text was written by W J Sparrow Simpson, the librettist of Stainer's earlier cantata Mary Magdalene.[3] The work is dedicated "to my pupil and friend W. Hodge and the choir of Marylebone Church", who first performed it on February 24, 1887, the day after Ash Wednesday.

Although the composer and critic Ernest Walker dismissed the oratorio, writing in 1924 that "Musicians today have no use for The Crucifixion", and even Stainer himself considered his work "rubbish,"[4] The Crucifixion continues to be performed even today, particularly the chorus "God so loved the world". The work has been recorded several times, including a best-selling recording issued by RCA Victor in 1929, featuring Richard Crooks and Lawrence Tibbett as soloists. [5]

The oratorio consists of the following movements:[6]

1. And They Came to a Place Named Gethsemane (tenor recitative) – text from Mark 14:32
2. The Agony (tenor and bass solo and chorus) – including text from Mark 14:46, 53, 60, 61–64, 15:1, 15–16
3. Processional to Calvary (organ solo) and "Fling Wide the Gates" (chorus and tenor solo)
4. And When They Were Come (bass recitative) – text from Luke 23:33
5. The Mystery of the Divine Humiliation (hymn)
6. He Made Himself of No Reputation (bass recitative) – text from Philippians 2:7–8
7. The Majesty of the Divine Humiliation tenor solo
8. And As Moses Lifted Up the Serpent (bass recitative) – text from John 3:14–15
9. God So Loved the World (chorus or quartet a cappella) – text from John 3:16–17
10. Litany of the Passion (hymn)
11. Jesus Said, 'Father, Forgive Them' (tenor and male chorus recitative) – text from Luke 23:34
12. So Thou Liftest Thy Divine Petition (tenor and bass solo duet)
13. The Mystery of the Intercession (hymn)
14. And One of the Malefactors (bass solo and male chorus) – text from Luke 23:39–43
15. The Adoration of the Crucified (hymn)
16. When Jesus Therefore Saw His Mother (tenor solo and male chorus) – text from John 19:26–27, Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:34
17. Is It Nothing to You? (bass solo) – text from Lamentations 1:12
18. The Appeal of the Crucified (chorus)
19. After This, Jesus Knowing That All Things Were Now Accomplished (tenor and male chorus recitative) – text from John 19:28, 30, Luke 23:46
20. For the Love of Jesus (hymn)

Stainer's work has in recent times been performed in an orchestrated version. For instance Craig Hawkins' arrangement of the work has been performed in the USA (2004 premiere, New York) and the UK (Norwich, 2010).