Candlelit Organ Meditation on Dupré's Stations of the Cross

Thursday, April 2, 2015
11:00 pm
Candlelit Organ Meditation on Dupré's Stations of the Cross
Christopher Jacobson

Le Chemin de la Croix (The Stations of the Cross), Op. 29, Marcel Dupré with Poetry by Paul Claudel

Since the Middle Ages Christians have long meditated through both prayer and art upon Jesus’ final journey to Calvary (known as the Stations of the Cross) during the season of Lent.  Sculptural depictions of the Stations of the Cross hang in the side aisles of Duke Chapel as visual interpretations of Christ’s final hours.  In 1931 the great French organist Marcel Dupré improvised a musical depiction of the Stations in Brussels as meditations on poems by Paul Claudel.  Throughout these fourteen movements Dupré weaves a rich theological tapestry symbolizing religious themes of Christ’s Passion (suffering, redemption, the cross, and piety to name just a few) by linking them to musical motives (four ascending notes, a descending major triad, etc.).  

Chapel Organist Christopher Jacobson will present a pre-performance conversation describing the significance of Dupré’s music as tied to the Stations at 10:00pm followed by a meditative candlelight performance of this work in Duke Chapel leading us into the first hours of Good Friday, the day of Christ’s suffering and death. The pre-performance conversation will be held in the Alumni Memorial Common Room, in the Duke Divinity School.

 

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