Easter Canticles

The three movements of Easter Canticles - Vigil, Crucifixion, and Resurrection - are structured as a triptych after the iconostasis of an Orthodox church. The three panels are meditations on scenes from the Passion of Jesus Christ: his prayerful agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, his crucifixion and resurrection. With the combination of cello and organ, Sirota sought to capture the mysticism of these three moments of the Passion. The first movement is agonized and restless, the second portrays the crucifixion, even down to the hammering of the nails into Christ's hands, and the third Christ's light-suffused resurrection. Part of the Concert Organ Series.