History of The Crucifixion

Summary History of The Crucifixion

Composer

The Crucifixion was published in 1887. The libretto and score were written following the period when both W J Sparrow Simpson Sr. (father to the younger W J Sparrow Simpson) and John Stainer had worked at St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England, which was 1876-1882. W J Sparrow Simpson Sr. was appointed Succentor at St. Paul's Cathedral in 1876, which was 4 years after Stainer was appointed Organist at St. Paul's Cathederal in 1872.

Stainer had previously been influenced by J.S.Bach's St. Matthew's Passion. In 1854, 7 years after Felix Mendelssohn's death in November 1847, who had championed revival of J.S.Bach's St. Matthew's Passion, Stainer was invited to sing in the first English performance of Bach's St Matthew's Passion under William Sterndale Bennett at the Hanover Square Rooms. Eighteen years later, Stainer was appointed organist at St. Paul's Cathedral, London in 1872. The following year, 1873, he made the St Matthew's Passion part of St. Paul's Cathedral's Holy Week liturgies.

Stainer was thus familiar with the musical structure of the St. Matthew's Passion and chose to model his score for The Crucifixion on the scheme of choruses, chorales, recitatives and arias as used by J.S.Bach in his St Matthew's Passion. Thus, Stainer's score gave his soloists a mixture of recitative and reflective arias, while the chorus commented on the action and also took part in it.

It was dedicated to Stainer’s pupil and friend William Hodge, assistant sub-organist at St Paul’s Cathedral and organist and choirmaster at Marylebone Parish Church, where the cantata was first performed in February 1887, conducted by the composer with Hodge at the organ.

For those interested in a bit of the history of how J S Bach's St Matthew's Passion became established in England and thus became the model Stainer used for his score for The Crucifixion, you can read about it by opening the window below. It is an interesting story.

Librettist

W J Sparrow Simpson the younger was born in 1859, obtained his BA from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1882, with first-class honours in the Theological Tripos, and was ordained. After ordination he was a curate at Christ Church, Albany Street, (just down the road from Marylebone Parish Church where the first performance of this score was given).

The Crucifixion was the second libretto Simpson the younger wrote for Stainer while a curate at Albany Street in Marylebone, London. (The musical score was composed by John Stainer, who died in 1901.) The year following publication of The Crucifixion, Simpson left Albany Street in Marylebone where he was a curate and became vicar of St Mark's, Regent’s Park, 1888–1904. In 1904 he became chaplain of Ilford Hospital Chapel until his death in 1952. (Thus, the beginning of the 71^st year after the death of W J Sparrow Simpson the younger, the score for The Crucifixion became Public Domain January 2023.)

Opinions about Literary and Musical Quality of The Crucifixion

The first performance of The Crucifixion was at Marylebone Parish Church in London, February 24, 1887. The simplicity of the music in The Crucifixion is perhaps an indication of the limited capability of the Marylebone Church choir. After all, many of Stainer's other works display his skill in things like fugue writing, which is usually more demanding for a choir to sing than the homophonic writing here (characterized by the movement of accompanying parts in the same rhythm as the melody). Also to keep performance of this score more managable by churches, Stainer only scored it for organ accompaniment.

Not only was the Crucifixion well received, but it has outlived almost all church choir music from the period. Never an Oratorio, it is a “meditation” designed to form an integral part of a Church of England service.

However, that has not stopped some critics of both the literary quality for the libretto and the musical quality of the composition. Those attacks by some say it is not high quality poetry or composition. (I would not say some Opera librettos would pass that level of criticism either.)

It seems likely the compositions The Crucifixion is being compared to as the basis for those comments are inappropriately, Oratorios, which are designed as concert pieces. They require trained/professional cathedral (or secular) choirs and orchestras.

It is worthwhile understanding, the target/goal for this composition was for performances in church Parishes. Namely, it was explicitly intended as an extended Passiontide (Easter season) "meditation" for ordinary Parish choirs in Britain to perform, and to which their congregations could immediately relate. There was no piece of English church music fitting that goal in England at the time Stainer wrote The Crucifixion.

That goal also seems to explain why Stainer's accompaniment score for The Crucifixion only uses pipe organ. That is because pipe organs were available in almost all parish churches. Using only pipe organ accompaniment for The Crucifixion was in contrast with many orchestrated oratorios, such as: Handel's Judas Maccabaeus (and even the Messiah); and Mendelssohn's Elijah. Those oratorios are essentially concert pieces, requiring more expansive resources of professional soloists, choirs and orchestra.

Stainer's success at meeting his goal of creating a "meditation" performable by parish choirs is clear, as is testified to by the enduring popularity of The Crucifixion as a solid favorite in churches. Its simple melodiousness does nothing to hamper its beauty, and those who dismiss it fail to recognize its (arguably sometimes patchy) worth, which is surely indicated by its seasonal staying power. As a Passiontide meditation it continues to live on, in the role for which it was intended. The Crucifixion's memorable tunes are a hit, and seem to have a continuing future.

Note. The AHS choirs' vintage, historic performance of this work in 1959 is likely a reasonable representation of musical capabilities you might find in larger Church of England parish churches.

The 1959 AHS choir's vintage, historic performances were only 72 years after The Crucifixion was written. Even now, Stainer's setting of the chorus "God so loved the world" continues to be performed as an anthem by many churches in its own right.

Many still enjoy the palpable sense of ritual, which folklore status has given to The Crucifixion. For such reasons, including the character of music and text, even in 2023, 136 years after it was first performed, few towns in England are likely to find themselves in Holy Week without any local performance of Stainer’s The Crucifixion.

New Orchestrated Accompaniments

For those that consider The Crucifixion to be musically less worthy of attention, it is interesting to note that in addition to the observation that this work is a perennial Holy Week favorite, there have been at least two orchestrations produced for this work since the turn of the 21^st century.

• First in 2001 the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, in the Borough of Guildford, Surrey, England, commissioned Barry Rose to create an orchestral score for The Crucifixion. Mr. Ross' orchestration was published in 2001 and the first performance took place in Guildford Cathedral on March 31, 2001, the centenary of Stainer’s death. Subsequently, a recording was made in Guildford Cathedral, (recording dates of January 8, 9 and 13 of 2003) and released April 14, 2003. A reviewer of that recording thought the new orchestration is nicely conceived to fit with the character of the choral. That review can be found at (unsecure) New Orchestrated version by Barry Ross.


• Second, Craig Hawkins' created an arrangement of the work for woodwinds, strings and timpani. His orchestration had a USA premiere in New York in 2004, and the UK in Norwich in 2010.

If you wish to comment on contents of this webpage, Clicking the button below will both transfer you to the Contact/Comment page, and pass along that you were on this webpage when you decided to comment.