BBC Music Magazine: outstanding.
In a letter to the British publisher William Forster, Haydn himself wrote with pride that 'any sonata, or any text is exclusively expressed in instrumental music in such a way that even the soul of the least experienced listener will be moved most profoundly.'
It is not the words but the expression of the drama that matters, and Haydn's success in achieving just that caused the fame of his "Seven Last Words" to spread immediately.
