Temporal dimensions of the passion narrative in «via crucis» by Franz List and Stefano Vagnini
Authors: Zosim Olga 
Published: December 2023

Relevance of the study. Postmodern genre pluralism, including in sacred musical creativity, has increased the interest of scientists in church genres that have recently been on the margins of musicological science, namely those that were not based on canonical texts, but relied on the paraliturgical tradition. Among them, let us pay attention to the rite of the Way of the Cross (via crucis), which for a long time was in the shadow of canonical genres, but in the period of modernism and especially in postmodern times, due to mobility, it turned out to be relevant for the creative searches of contemporary masters. The first artistic example—«Via crucis» by F. Liszt, created at the end of the 19th century, laid the foundation for the genre of the Way of the Cross, and therefore deserves the primary attention of scientists. No less important are works that not only continue the genre tradition, but also rely on the Lisztian model invariant. In this context, the iconic composition is «Via crucis» by S. Vagnini, written at the turn of the millennium. Both works are connected not only by belonging to the genre invariant, but also by the originality of approaches to the passion narrative underlying the rite, so this aspect is central in the comparative analysis of these compositions that are significant for European religious music.

The purpose of the article is to reveal the temporal aspect of the deployment of the passion narrative in the compositions «Via crucis» by F. Liszt and S. Vagnini and to elucidate the artistic and dogmatic-theological potential of temporal shifts in the passion narrative.

The methodological basis of the article are the historical, cultural and comparative methods, which made it possible to single out the Way of the Cross from other passion genres and to carry out its typology. Musical-liturgical and theological-hermeneutic analysis made it possible to identify the features of the embodiment of the passion narrative in the works of «Via crucis» by F. Liszt and S. Vagnini, to prove that temporality as a category outlining the linearity or non-linearity of the storyline deployment can become a factor in the formation of new meanings—artistic and theologicaldogmatic.

The results and conclusions. A typology of the musical-liturgical genre of the Way of the Cross has been created: a genre invariant (a work of cantata-oratorio type with a developed instrumental and minimized verbal component) and two variants —instrumental and cantata-oratorio with a sprawling and detailed storyline —has been identified. The genre invariant, represented by the work «Via crucis» by F. Liszt (1879) and the modular oratorio of the same name by S. Vagnini (1997), turned out to be the most mobile and open to experiments. Both works are notable for the temporal decision in the unfolding of the passionate narration, which is unconventional for sacred music. F. Liszt violates the linearity of the passionate narrative, based on fourteen episodes of the rite of the Way of the Cross, choosing for a number of parts of his «Via crucis» verbal texts that are temporally inconsistent with the content of the events described. Of particular importance in the composer’s work is the medieval sequence Stabat mater, which serves as a marker of the presence of the Mother of God in the storyline of the Way of the Cross. In «Via crucis» by S. Vagnini, who in his composition focused on Liszt’s work, temporal non-linearity becomes the basis of a parallel storyline of the Mother of God. Temporal shifts and double (parallel) narrativity in the works of F. Liszt and S. Vagnini become a form of conveying theological truths, namely, in a special and visual way they emphasize the role of the Mother of God in the Salvation history.