Haydn himself tought that the work, consisting of seven slow sonatas, was a tour de force. But, as observes Luiz Paulo Horta in the booklet, the melodic richness is so vast, and so greatly diverse it is, that the ubiquity of the slow tempo doesn't become monotonous. Haydn was already a mature and famous composer when he wrote this work - originally for orchestra - in 1785, under a comission by the bishop of Cádiz, Spain. The bishop wanted to illustrate the seven last words of Jesus Christ in the Cross, for the services of the Holy Friday. (...) One day Rosana Lanzelotte had a very special comission, a harpsichord recital for the Holy Week. When she was thinking about what could be the repertoire, she remembered a gift she had received from Vienna: a copy of The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross, by Joseph Haydn, in a harpsichord reduction. "Of course my friends that went to that concert, in Rio, had they part on the decision to record this work", says Rosana. This CD was recorded by Rosana Lanzelotte in the Paulus Studio, in São Paulo, in a harpsichord by Joop Klinkhamer.