Der Tod Jesu (The Death of Jesus) is an oratorio libretto by Karl Wilhelm Ramler. In its setting by Carl Heinrich Graun in 1755, it was the most often performed Passion of the 18th century in Germany.
The poem is part of the Empfindsamkeit movement of the 1750s. It is the middle of three oratorio texts by Ramler – Die Hirten bei der Krippe zu Bethlehem, Der Tod Jesu, and Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt – which may have been viewed by Ramler as a libretto cycle, though they were never set as a cycle by any composer. The libretto was intended for Graun but a copy of Ramler's text was somehow received by Telemann who produced his own setting of the oratorio (TWV 5:6) in Hamburg before Graun could perform the premiere in Berlin. Ramler revised his text in 1760.
The text is not a full retelling of the Passion of Christ and it does not quote Bible texts. Instead, it presents emotively various aspects of the Passion.
Jesu is an experimental band formed in 2003 by Justin Broadrick following the breakup of Godflesh. Jesu was the name of the last song on the penultimate Godflesh release, Hymns.
Jesu's sound is heavily layered and textured, drawing from and incorporating an eclectic mix of influences, ranging from ambient music, drone doom, to shoegazing, downtempo and industrial music. Broadrick himself has made it known that he does not consider Jesu to fall into any of these categories and that he has been intentionally writing what he considers to be coherent and structured pop songs.
Jesu's first release, the Heart Ache EP, was released in 2004 and featured Broadrick performing all of the instruments and vocals alone. It was followed four months later by the full-length Jesu LP, which featured the addition of bassist Diarmuid Dalton and drummer Ted Parsons, although not every song features both members. A spring 2005 tour of Europe, in support of the album, featured Roderic Mounir of Knut filling in for Ted Parsons on drums.
Jesu is the first full-length album from Jesu, released by Hydra Head Records on December 8, 2004. Unlike the Heart Ache EP, where Justin Broadrick executed all instrumentation himself, this release features Ted Parsons on drums, Diarmuid Dalton on bass, and a guest appearance by Paul Neville on guitar on the track "Man/Woman". The album was released in Japan by Daymare Recordings and contains two additional instrumental remixes on a bonus disc. In February 2005, a double vinyl picture disc set was released by Hydra Head, limited to 1000 copies. The picture disc pressing contains an alternate, cleaner mix than the CD or standard LP editions.
All songs written and composed by Justin K. Broadrick.
Jesu may refer to: