JUDASKUSS ("The Kiss of Judas") - Z. Randall Stroope

Z. RANDALL STROOPE, Composer; SATBdiv.; recording conducted by the composer; Josef Weinheber, poet; Publisher - www.zrstroope.com; Duration 6:40
COMPOSER NOTES (www.zrstroope.com)
JUDASKUSS is available in pdf (e-music) at www.zrstroope.com under "Music" (SATB)
I wrote three works about three historical significant individuals - each with very unique motivations, personalities, and life "journeys." Yet each "collided" with the other, resulting in very different outcomes. This is not taken from a religious perspective per se, but more specifically as character study of each one - Mary ("Christi Mutter"), Peter ("Petrus"), and Judas ("Judaskuss.")
Poet Josef Weinheber (1892-1945) wrote (in JUDASKUSS) that Judas felt "forced" to betray Jesus. [transl. from German] “I was just fulfilling the scriptures. He urged me to do it, so I had to go. [When the soldiers came], I kissed him. They seized him and dragged him off. He gave me my fate. Jesus died for you on the cross, and as for me - I went out and hanged myself.” Du bitter Reue, Scham und Gram! [“You bitter regret, shame, and sorrow!] And, very sadly, Weinheber (poet) himself committed suicide in 1945, following a trouble life.
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