n Words" and
delivered a few words inspired by it. Then he descended, knelt
before the altar, and remained there for some time. This pause was
relieved by the music. The bishop ascended and descended six times
more and each time, after his homily, music was played. My music
was to be adapted to these ceremonies.

The problem of writing seven _adagios_ to be performed
consecutively, each one to last ten minutes, without wearying the
audience, was not an easy one to solve, and I soon recognized the
impossibility of making my music conform to the prescribed limits.

The work was written and printed without words. Later the
opportunity of adding them was offered, so the oratorio which
Breitkopf and Haertel publish to-day is a complete work and, so far
as the vocal part is concerned, entirely new.

The kind reception which it has received among amateurs makes me
hope that the entire public will welcome it with the same kindness.

Haydn feared to weary his hearers. Our modern bards have no such vain
scruple.

Michel Haydn, Joseph's brother and the author of some highly esteemed
religious compositions, has been generally credited with the addition of
the vocal parts to the _Seven Words_. Joseph Haydn did not say that this
was the case, but it would seem that if he did the work himself he would
have said so in his preface.

This vocal part, however, adds nothing to the value of the work. And it
is of no great consequence who the author of the arrangement for the
quartet was. At the time there were many amateurs who played on
stringed instruments. They used to meet frequently and everything in
music was arranged for quartets just as now everything is arranged for
piano duets. Some of Beethoven's sonatas were arranged in this form. The
piano killed the quartet, and it is a great pity, for the quartet is the
purest form of instrumental music. It is the first form--the fountain of
Hippocrene. Now instrumental music drinks from every cup and the result
is that many times it seems drunk.

To return to the _Seven Words_. Their symphonic form is the only one
worth considering. They are eloquent enough without the aid of voices,
for their charm penetrates. Unlike the _Creation_ and the _Seasons_ they
do not demand extraordinary means of execution, and nothing is easier
than to give them.

The opera houses are closed on Good Friday, and it used to be the