“Although I am not religious, the way of the cross, for me, is the most intense representation of the drama of a human being confronted with the ineluctable. This long tunnel, of total darkness, is the terrible funeral march of a man condemned to a horrible ordeal: the crucifixion.”

All of the music heard here was based upon a four-voice response, Tradiderunt Me In Manus Impiorum, by the Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611).

Golgot(h)a is divided into two large parts, each of which includes seven sections which correspond to the 14 stations of the cross. Each section is preceded by a “fanfare-promenade,” a type of refrain which acts as a transition between the sections.

The first part is preceded by a prelude, which is itself introduced by a short pre-prelude. An organ interlude forms the centre of the work and a postlude serves as a 15th section, corresponding to the resurrection.

[iii-92]

The sound recording of Golgot(h)a was produced by Jacques Boucher for the SRC from June 11 to 16, 1990 at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church in Montréal. The final mix was realized in Studio 13 of the SRC in Montréal. The radiophonic premiere took place on March 20, 1991 during the broadcast Musique actuelle of the FM Network of Radio-Canada. The concert premiere took place on March 23, 1992 in Montréal with the Ensemble of the SMCQ (Société de musique contemporaine du Québec). Golgot(h)a received the Grand Prix Paul Gilson of the French-language Public Radio Community (CRPLF) in Paris (France, March 1991). The piece was commissioned by the Société Radio-Canada (SRC).

Premiere

• March 20, 1991, Musique actuelle, Réseau FM de Radio-Canada, Canada