In Gethsemane / Agony / The Arrest / Dance of the White Sheet / Before  

Caiaphas – Osvaldo Golijov (2000)

 

And they went from there to Gethsemane; 

and Jesus said:

My soul is troubled unto death. Watch!

Abba, Father…

take away this cup from me,

take it away from me.

And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping,

and saith unto Peter:

Simon! Sleepest thou?

Couldest not thou watch one hour?

At evening, or at midnight

or at cockcrowning, or in the morning.

Watch ye…

The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

Abba, Father,

take way this cup from me,

take it away from me.

And when he returned, he found them asleep again,

for their eyes were heavy.

Abba, Father…

take away this cup from me.

Take this cup, take it away…

Nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

You sleep on now, the hour is come.

At evening, or at midnight,

or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.

Rise up, rise up!

Behold, the Son of man is betrayed

into the hands of sinners.

Let us go; lo, het that betrayeth me is at hand.

The Son of man goeth.

The Son of man must indeed go…

Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he!

And while Jesus yet spake, 

cometh Judas,

And with him a great multitude

with swords and staves.

From the chief priests

and the scribes and the elders.

Judas gave the signal:

Master, saith the betrayer.

Judas approached.

Master, he said, and kissed him.

And they laid their hands on him,

and took him.

And one of them that stood by

drew a sword,

and cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest.

Why? Why?

Are ye come out,

as against a thief,

with swords and with staves to take me?

Ah! Why? Why?

I was daily with you in the temple teaching,

and ye took me not:

but the scriptures must be fulfilled.

Art thou the Christ,

the Son of the Blessed?

And they led Jesus to the high priest

And with him were assembled

all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes.

And Peter followed him afar off,

even into the court of the palace.

And he sat with the servants,

and warmed himself at the fire.

And the chief priests and all the council sought 

to test the statment:

I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and

within three dyas I will build another made without hands.

They searched and found none,

even among one hundred witnesses.

They declared, and bore false witness.

For many accused him

by repeating what they had heard.

And Caiaphas stood up in the midst,

and asked Jesus: 

Art thou the Christ,

the Son of the Blessed?

 

Und als es Tag ward / Und Sie führten Ihn vor Pilatus / Da aber  

Herodes Jesum sah – Wolfgang Amadeus Rihm (2000)

 

And as soon as it was day,

the elders of the people

and the chief priest 

and the scribes came together,

and led him into their council…:

Art thou the Christ? Tell us! …

And if I also ask you, 

ye will not answer me, 

nor let me go.

Hereafter shall the Son of man sit

on the right hand of the power of God …

Art thou then the Son of God? …

Ye say that I am… 

What need we any further witness?

For we ourselves have heard 

of his own mouth.

… and the whole multitude of them arose,

and led him unto Pilate.

And they began to accuse him …

And Pilate asked him …: 

Art thou the King of the Jews? …

Thou sayest it …

I find no fault in this man …

He stirreth up the people,

teaching throughout all Jewry …

And … he sent him to Herod…

And when Herod saw Jesus, 

he was exceeding glad; …

– because he had heard many things of him –

and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.

Then he questioned with him in many words;

but he answerd him nothing.

And the chief priests and scribes stood

and vehemently accused him. …

And Herod … mocked him … 

and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, 

and sent him again to Pilatus

 

Give Us Barabbas! – Tan Dun (2000)

 

you – ha ha,

prophesize for us, Messiah!

if you are the son of God

tell us who hits, who spits, who slaps you now!

you – ha ha, 

the king of Jews!

if you come down off the cross,

we will believe!

he cann tear down the temple,

and build it up again in three days!

blasphemy!

wich one do you want:

Barabbas the thief,

or Jezus called Messiah?

Messiah? Messiah? Messiah?

give us Barabbas!

are you the son of God?

you have said so.

for this I was born,

for this I came into the world,

to give witness to the truth.

kill him! kill him!

Eli Eli Lamala

kill him! kill him!

Father, forgive them

for they know not what they do.

Eli Eli Lamala

kill him! kill him!

 

Gang nach Golgatha – Sofia Gubajdulina (2000)

 

So they took Jesus.

            The first angel blew his trumpet, 

            and there came hail and fire,

            mixed with blood, 

            and a third of the earth was burned up.

He is carrying the cross by himself.

                                    This man is a sinner.

                        How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?

            The second angel blew his trumpet, 

            and something like a great mountain, 

            burning with fire,

            was thrown into the sea.

                                    He is out of his mind.

                                    He has a demon.

                        If this man were not from God,

                        he could do nothing.

He is carrying the cross by himself …

                        This is the Messiah!

                                    No, he is deceiving the crowd.

                        If this man were not from God, 

                        he could do nothing.

                                    He is out of his mind.

                                    He has a demon.

… and he went out to what is called

The Place of the Skull, 

            And a third of the sea became blood.

which in Hebrew is called Gogotha.

                        This is the Messiah!

                                    No. He is out of his mind.

                                    He has a demon.

                        If this man were not from God,

                        he could do nothing.

                                    No, he is deceiving the crowd.

            The third angel blew his trumpet,

            and a great star fell from heaven,

            and it fell on a third of the rivers

            and the springs of water,

            and they became bitter.

                                    No prophet is to arise from Galilee.

                        If this man were not from God, 

                        he could do nothing.

                                    This man is not from God.

                        He opened my eyes.

                                    He has a demon.

                        Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?

                                    This man is a sinner.

                                    We know that God does not listen to sinners.

There they crucified him.

And with him tow others …

                        This is the Messiah!

                                    He called God his own Father, 

                                    thereby making himself equal to God.

                        This is truly the savior of the World.

                                    It is better for us to have one man 

                                    die for the people than to have 

                                    the whole nation destroyed.

… one on either side …

                        Has not the scripture said that the Messiah

                        will come from Bethlehem,

                        the place where David lived?

… with Jesus between them.

                                    No prophet is to arise from Galilee.

            The fourth angel blew his trumpet,

            and a third of the sun was struck,

            and a third of the moon.

                        When the Messiah comes,

                        will he do more signs than this man has done?

Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.

            The fifth angel blew his trumpet,

"Jesus of Nazareth,

The King of the Jews."

            and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven …

The chief priests of the Jews …

            … to earth.

                                    He called God his own Father, 

                                    thereby making himself equal to God.

                                    He must die because he has clamied

                                    to be the Son of God.

… said to Pilate,

Do not write, "The King of the Jews", 

but, "This man said, …

            And he was given the key to the shaft

            of the bottomless pit.

… I am King of the Jews."

                                    He must die because he has claimed

                                    to be the Son of God.

            And he opened the shaft

            of the bottomless pit.

Pilate answerd,

"What I have written I have written."

                        This is the Messiah!

                                    He called God his own Father, 

                                    thereby making himself equal to God.

            And from the shaft rose smoke

            like smoke of a great furnace,

            and the sun was darkened, 

            and the air.

                        He is truly the Saviour of the world.

                                    The prophet shall not come from Galilee.

                        For no one can do these signs, 

                        unless God is in him. 

                                    He must die,             because he made himself out 

                                    to be the Son of God.

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, …

            Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth.

… they took his clothes …

            They had scales like iron breasplates, 

            and the noise of their wings

Is this not Jesus,

the son of Joseph,

whoe father and mother we know?

            … and divided them into parts, …

                        When the Messiah comes, 

                        no one will know where he is from.

            … was like the noise of many chariots.

                        If this man were not from God,

                        he could do nothing.

… one for each soldier,

and his tunic.

            Their tails were like scorpions,

The tunic was seamless, 

woven in one piece from the top.

                                    He must die because he has claimed

                                    to be the Son of God.

                        When the Messiah comes,

                        will he do more signs 

                        than this man has done?

                                    This man is a sinner.

            … and in their tails were stingers.

                        This is the Messiah!

                                    He has a demon.

So they said to one another,

"Let us not tear it,

but cast lots for it to see who will get it."

                                    This man is not from God,

                                    because he does not observe the sabbath.

                        How can a man who is a sinner

                        open the eyes of the blind?

                                    This man is a sinner.

            Then the sixt angel blew his trumpet

                                    He must die because he has claimed

                                    to be the Son of God

            and I saw troops of cavalry numbering 

            two hundred million,

                                    This man is not from God.

                                    He does not observe the sabbath.

            … horses …

                                    This man is a sinner.

            … and on the horses …

                                    Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, 

                                    does he?

            … were riders.

                        If this man were not from God,

                        he could do nothing.

                                    He must die.

                        Lamb of God who takes away

                        the sin of the world.

                        This is the Messiah!

                        Lamb of God who takes away

                        the sin of the world.

This was to fulfill

what the scripture says,

"They divided my clothes among themselves,

for my clothing they cast lots."

                        This is the Messiah!

Standing near the cross of Jesus

were his mother, and his mother's sister,

Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple

whom he loved he said to his mother,

"Woman, here is your son."

Then he said to the disciple, 

"Here is your mother."

                        This is the Messiah!

After this,

when Jesus knew that all was finished, 

he said, "I am thirsty."

A jar of sour wine was standing there.

So the soldiers put a sponge full of the wine

on a brach of hyssop 

and held it to his mouth.

                        In the beginning was the Word,

                        and the Word was with God,

                        and the Word was with God,

                        and the Word was God.

When Jesus had received the wine,

he said: "It is finished."

Then he bowed his head

and gave up his spirit.