''Rotae Passionis'' ('Passion Wheels') is a piece for mixed chamber ensemble by the American composer Christopher Rouse. It was commissioned by

Boston Musica Viva Boston Musica Viva is a Boston, Massachusetts-based music ensemble founded by its Music Director, Richard Pittman, in 1969 and dedicated to contemporary music. Composers and compositions In its 44-year history, Boston Musica Viva has performed m ...

and completed in 1983, when the work was first performed. It is dedicated to

Carl Orff Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata ''Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Life Early life Car ...

, who died the previous year."

Instrumentation

The work is scored for seven players: #flute (doubling piccolo and alto flute) #clarinet (doubling E-flat and bass clarinets) #percussion #piano #violin #viola #cello At certain points in the work, the wind players and the pianist are also required to play percussion instruments.

Structure

The work consists of three parts, each representing an element of the Passion story: #Circuitus Lamentationis - Dolor in Horto (

Agony in the Garden The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane is an episode in the life of Jesus. After the Last Supper, Jesus enters a garden where he experiences great anguish and prays to be delivered from his impending death on the cross ("Take this cup from me") ...

) #Rotae Passionis (Passion Wheels) (based on the Fourteen Stations of the Cross) #Rota Parallela - Christus in Somno Inspiration for the composition was derived from Northern Renaissance art, in particular the works of

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...

and

Matthias Grünewald Matthias Grünewald ( – 31 August 1528) was a German Renaissance painter of religious works who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century. His first name is also given ...

. The approach of these artists to the subject of the Crucifixion appealed to Rouse because they conveyed the anguish of the Passion more emphatically than their Italian counterparts. Rouse, Christopher
Rotae Passionis: Program Note by the Composer
1982. Retrieved March 8, 2015. Each part of the work can therefore be interpreted as a panel from a

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...

altarpiece. Material in the composition is developed in a circular fashion, hence the 'wheel' concept: this notion was also inspired by the '

Rota Fortunae In medieval and ancient philosophy the Wheel of Fortune, or ''Rota Fortunae'', is a symbol of the capricious nature of Fate. The wheel belongs to the goddess Fortuna (Greek equivalent Tyche) who spins it at random, changing the positions of t ...

' of Orff's

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

References

{{authority control 1982 compositions Compositions by Christopher Rouse Compositions for chamber orchestra Music with dedications