THE MODERN ORATORIO
Brahms: ‘German Requiem’; Dvořák: ‘St. Ludmila’--César
Franck: ‘The Beatitudes’--Tinel: ‘Franciscus’; Benoît:
‘Lucifer’--Saint-Saëns: ‘Christmas Oratorio’; ‘The Deluge’;
Massenet: _Ève_; _Marie Madeleine_; Dubois: ‘Paradise
Lost’--Oratorio in England; Mackenzie: ‘The Rose of Sharon’;
‘Bethlehem’; Parry: ‘Judith’; ‘Job’; ‘King Saul’--Stanford:
‘The Three Holy Children’; ‘Eden’; Sullivan: ‘The Prodigal
Son’; ‘The Light of the World’; Cowen--Oratorio in America;
Paine: ‘St. Peter’; Horatio Parker: _Hora Novissima_; ‘The
Legend of St. Christopher.’
I
‘The German Requiem’ is the largest of Brahms’ several choral works
and was the first of his compositions to bring him fame and to verify
Schumann’s enthusiastic prophecy concerning him. The work, consisting
of seven numbers, is mainly choral, though there are baritone and
soprano solos, and it was first heard in its entirety at Bremen on Good
Friday, 1868. Its first English performance was in 1873 and it was
heard for the first time in America at the Cincinnati May Festival in
1884 under Theodore Thomas’ direction.
The title ‘Requiem’ is in a measure misleading, as it has nothing
in common with the setting of the Catholic Mass for the Dead. It is
much broader in scope than the customary use of this term as a form
of religious music would imply. While it points out the emptiness and
vanity of material life, its dominant note is one of consolation,
expanding into joy and leading to the ultimate triumph over death and
the grave. The composition of the ‘German Requiem’ was suggested by the
death of the composer’s mother in 1865 and the work itself is generally
regarded as Brahms’ masterpiece, Maitland going so far as to call it
‘the greatest achievement of modern sacred music in Germany.’
The first chorus, ‘Blessed are they that go mourning,’ is a beautiful
composition, its charm being greatly enhanced by its rich orchestral
accompaniment. No. 2, the Funeral March, is written in triple time,
which through Brahms’ magic is made to express vividly the measured
tread of the mourners. No. 3, ‘Lord, make me to know the measure of
my days on earth,’ consists of a baritone solo followed by two choral
fugues which are very effective though of great difficulty. No. 4,
a chorus (‘How lovely is Thy dwelling-place, O Lord of Hosts’), is
slower than its predecessor and is charmingly melodious. No. 5, ‘Ye
now are sorrowful, grieve not,’ for soprano solo and chorus, has
rich passages of melody and discloses the composer’s great ability
in song-writing. No. 6, for baritone solo and chorus (‘Here on earth
we have no continuing place, we seek now a heavenly one’), pictures
the resurrection of the dead in intricate fugal passages of wonderful
power. No. 7, the finale (‘Blessed are the faithful who in the Lord are
sleeping’), in contrast with the tumultuous strains which precede it,
offers a calm and sweetly serious close to this remarkable work.
Dvořák’s ‘St. Ludmila’ is sometimes classed as a sacred cantata, but
its breadth rather suggests its inclusion among oratorios. The poem,
by Jaroslav Vrchlicky, is based on a Bohemian legend and sets forth
the worship of the heathen goddess Bába, the destruction of her statue
by the Christian teacher Ivan, the conversion of Princess Ludmila and
her future husband, Prince Bořivoy, and their baptism, which ushered
in the Christianization of Bohemia. The work was written for the Leeds
Festival, where it had its first presentation in 1886. While there
are many suggestions of national folk-song and national idiom in the
score, Dvořák, in writing the music, doubtless had in mind English
conditions, demands and tastes, in that he gave special prominence to
the choral parts and strove to develop charming and original melodies
with strongly rhythmic features.
The composition is in three parts. The first scene is laid in the
courtyard of Melnik Castle, where the people are gathered about the
statue of the goddess Bába in worship of Bohemian Pagan deities. An
introductory orchestral number depicts the dawn, following which are
several solos and choruses of women and priests, in which the dawning
day and the laughing springtime are joyously proclaimed. Ludmila enters
with an invocation to the goddess for blessings on the fatherland,
closing with the charming passage, ‘I long with childlike longing,’
to which the chorus adds, ‘The gods are ever near.’ With the approach
of Ivan, the serene music changes abruptly, as he implores them in
a strong, declamatory aria, ‘Give ear, ye people, one is our God.’
After the destruction of the heathen statue by Ivan amid scenes of
great confusion, Ludmila proclaims her faith in the doctrine which
Ivan preaches, and the part closes with choruses of lament and alarm
by the people. The second part, after an orchestral prelude, discloses
Svatava aiding her mistress in finding Ivan, whom they finally discover
emerging from a cave. After Ludmila and Svatava have both declared
their faith in Christianity, the music suddenly changes. The religious
mood gives way to the merry sound of the hunt and the hunters’ chorus.
Prince Bořivoy enters and relates how Ivan miraculously healed the
wounded hind. As he sees Ludmila, he declares his love for her. Ivan
expounds his doctrine to the prince and the hunters, and Bořivoy is
also converted. When he again pours out his love for Ludmila, she
at first replies, ‘To thee the pleasure of the chase belongs,’ but
Ivan urges her to bestow her hand upon the prince, and a quartet and
a chorus close the part. The scene of the third part is laid in the
cathedral of Velehrad. The royal lovers are baptized, and the noble
chorus, ‘Mighty Lord, to us be gracious,’ creates an exalted religious
atmosphere. At the conclusion of the ceremony the orchestra enters with
trumpet fanfares, followed by solos by Svatava and Ivan with choral
responses; and a powerful contrapuntal chorus, a final ‘Alleluia,’
impressively closes the work.
II
Though Franck’s list of works is small compared with those of some
of his fellow-composers, he touched every field of serious music and
left the impress of his powerful individuality. _Les Béatitudes_ (‘The
Beatitudes’) is probably his finest work, though, after hearing his
noble D minor symphony or his striking piano quintet, one is reluctant
to pass over either of these superb creations in naming Franck’s
masterpiece. He wrote five large choral works, though, in common with
other French composers, he seldom used the title ‘oratorio.’ The first
one in oratorio-form was ‘Ruth and Boaz,’ written in 1845, which he
designates _Églogue biblique_ and in which he is evidently struggling
for new harmonic effects, although he had not yet found the idiom
which characterizes his later works. He follows the form of French
oratorios of this period, which were usually short, possibly because
this temperamental nation was not inclined to hear a long religious
work which, without any dramatic action, would occupy a whole evening.
The naïveté and simplicity of this youthful work won much admiration
when it was first performed at the Conservatoire at Paris on January
4, 1846. The picturesque orchestral prelude, the chorus of Moabites,
Ruth’s beautiful aria in the first part, the duet between Ruth and
Boaz in the second part, the charming and original chorus of reapers
with its suggestion of an old French folk-song--these are some of
the beauties of this simple sacred idyl. _La Rédemption_, which the
composer calls a _poème symphonique_, was finished Nov. 7, 1872, and
was first performed at the Concert National on April 10, 1873, under
the direction of Colonne. Franck’s mysticism becomes more apparent in
this work. While it is by no means on a level with the ‘Beatitudes,’
such passages as the angels’ choruses, the arias of the archangel, the
music expressing the joy of mankind at Christ’s advent, reveal the
tender grace and purity of Franck’s inspirations. _Rébecca_, a Biblical
idyl (_scène biblique_) on a poem by Paul Collin, dates from 1881,
and is written in the simple style of his earlier ‘Ruth.’ An Oriental
atmosphere pervades the work and gives color to its harmonies and
modulations, as witness the opening chorus and the picturesque chorus
of camel-drivers. In _Psyché_ Franck reaches his mature style. Written
in 1887-88 and first performed at the _Concerts du Châtelet_ under
Colonne, Feb. 23, 1890, this quite lengthy work possesses many passages
of ravishing beauty and elusive charm--such as the _Sommeil de Psyché_,
a prelude ‘full of mysterious language,’ and the music accompanying the
scene where Psyché reposes among the flowers.
‘The Beatitudes’ is a work in which Franck’s best and most
characteristic qualities of thought and workmanship are displayed in
a wonderful degree. Of a deeply religious nature, profoundly earnest
and sincere, working wholly for himself and his art-ideals, and wholly
oblivious of the indifference with which an unappreciative generation
received his great works, Franck translated into music his own inner
self to a degree that has been vouchsafed to very few composers. The
grandeur and religious significance of the underlying thoughts of this
great theme struck deep into his gentle, tender nature and he was
able to sustain a noble mode of musical speech from beginning to end
without flagging. Three characteristics stand out prominently in his
music--(1) a mysticism that throws a glamour of delicious vagueness of
outline over all his modes of artistic expression, a mysticism that
roots itself deep in the hidden things of the religious faith he so
consistently held, (2) a complex and intricate polyphony that rivals
Bach’s in its nobility and expressiveness, and (3) an astounding wealth
of novel harmonies that elude analysis and enthrall the listener by
their very elusiveness.
‘The Beatitudes’ was begun in 1870 and was published ten years
later. Parts of it were performed in Paris from time to time, but the
entire work did not come to public hearing until one year after the
composer’s death--at Dijon in 1891 at the Commemoration Festival of
St. Bernard. Its first Paris performance was March 19, 1893, under
Colonne, and France at last awoke to the recognition of the greatness
of her departed adopted son. The text is a poetic paraphrase of the
Sermon on the Mount, made by Madame Colomb. It is not altogether
adequate and is interspersed with philosophical episodes that at times
suggest spiritualism and other irrelevant matter. Curiously enough it
was frequently these extraneous parts that touched Franck most deeply
and occasioned some of his finest outbursts of religious rapture. The
strongest musical parts of the oratorio are the fine choral writing and
the skillful handling of the orchestra in exploiting and illustrating
the poetic and dramatic meaning of the text. In the orchestral numbers
his most brilliant style is revealed. His treatment of the various
characters--Satan, the Voice of Christ, Mater Dolorosa--is often
very dramatic, almost theatrical: other characters are the Angel of
Forgiveness and the Angel of Death. The central theme which runs
through the whole work is the perpetual conflict between good and evil,
and ‘terrestrial’ and ‘celestial’ choruses are frequently used to
illustrate these opposing forces.
The musical numbers of the oratorio naturally group themselves into
eight parts (preceded by a prologue) corresponding to the Gospel
narrative. The Christ motive is introduced in the music of the prologue
(for tenor and celestial chorus) which establishes at once the mood of
the whole work. Of exquisite beauty and tenderness are the passages
assigned to the voice of Christ (baritone) in the first part (‘Blessed
he, who, from earth’s dreams awaking’) and in the third and fourth
parts. The celestial choruses are notable throughout for their tender
note of consolation and admonition, especially in the fifth part.
Franck’s treatment of the whole of the third beatitude--‘Blessed
are they that mourn’--is forceful and impressive, beginning with
the chorus, ‘Grief over all creatures,’ the strongest in the whole
oratorio. The most dramatic moments of the work are in the seventh
part--‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ His Satan, as the arch-inspirer
of all strife and discord, appears as a figure of Miltonic grandeur.
Opposed to his bitter denunciations and taunts are the gentle strains
of the Christ voice (‘Blessed are they who, with voice beseeching’),
which touch even Satan to a penitent mood (‘Ah! that voice’) and lead
into one of the most beautiful portions of the entire work, the famous
quintet of peacemakers (‘Evil cannot stay’). The eighth part--‘Blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake’--rivals the
seventh in dramatic intensity and force. Satan, ‘not yet defeated,’
again hurls defiance at Christ. He is rebuked by the chorus of the just
and finally gives way before the voice of the _Mater Dolorosa_ who
sings a sublime song (‘Stricken with sorrow’). Satan recognizes his
doom, the voice of Christ is heard for the last time, and the celestial
chorus responds with a triumphant Hosanna which brings the work to a
close.
III
_Franciscus_ was the first work to bring Edgar Tinel (1854-1912)
international fame. While preceding works had brought him success, the
sound musicianship of this oratorio, its beauties of contrapuntal and
orchestral structure, won for its composer a wide recognition beyond
the boundaries of his native Belgium as one of the ablest contemporary
choral writers. He has written much church-music and has evinced strong
interest in the reform of Gregorian chant and ecclesiastical music
which has stirred the Roman Church since the middle of the nineteenth
century. It was while he was director of the Institute for Sacred Music
at Malines that he composed ‘Franciscus,’ generally regarded as his
masterpiece, and it was produced there, August 22, 1888. It was one of
the works performed at the Lower Rhine Festival in 1894 and was heard
for the first time in England in 1895 at the Cardiff Festival. Before
either German or English performance, however, it had been brought out
in New York City in 1893. The librettist, Lodemijk de Koninck, has
woven into the lines of his poem all the salient features of the life
of St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), ‘the adorable mediæval mystic who
invited all beings and all things to divine love,’ and who became the
founder of the great mendicant order of Franciscan monks.
The oratorio is divided into three parts. The first--‘Francis’
Worldly Life and his Renunciation’--opens with a sonorous prelude
developed from a theme of stately character and discloses a brilliant
scene of court life at Assisi, where knights and ladies hold high feast
amid the beauty of an Italian night. There is dancing and merriment and
the gay Francis is called upon for a song. He astonishes the guests by
singing the Ballad of Poverty, which, with its quaint unaccompanied
choral refrains, forms one of the most delightful musical passages
in the work. On his way home after the festivities he hears a voice
speaking his name. Later in his chamber he hears the same heavenly
voice and sees a vision of a magnificent hall, hung with cross-bedecked
armor, wherein a noble maiden, Poverty, walks. The heavenly voice
tells him that Poverty shall be his bride, his weapon the cross, and
his mission to convert the world. The second part pictures ‘Francis’
Monastic Life’ and teems with the fantastic episodes with which
mediæval legends allegorically associated the lives of the church
fathers and saints. It introduces the angels of Hope, of Love, and
of Peace, against whom the spirits of War and of Hate wage battle.
Francis, worn with fasting, bare-foot and clad in a monk’s gray garb,
comes from his cell. His former companions no longer know him, and
jeer him as he tells them of his lovely bride, Poverty. He sings the
beautiful, pathetic Song of Poverty, _Erbarm’ Dich meiner Noth, O
Herr!_ (‘Have mercy on my need, O Lord!’). Taught by him they learn
the meaning of brotherly love and peace reigns on earth. Francis’
Hymn to the Sun with choral accompaniment, the deeply expressive Song
of Love and the closing chorus of celestial voices, are among the
rarest gems of the work. The third part deals with ‘Francis’ Death and
Glorification,’ the finest numbers of which are the angelus chorus
which he hears at evening as he lies on his death-bed; the double
chorus in the church scene (_Lux æterna_), in which the solemn tones
of the organ join with contrasting celestial and earthly choirs; the
imposingly heroic funeral march; and the final scene, in which the
composer masses chorus on chorus with tremendous cumulative effect,
closing with the words, ‘Triumph! Glory be to God!’
Pierre Léopold Benoît (b. 1834), a consistent propagandist for Flemish
music, has been foremost in the movement to establish a national school
of music distinct from French and German schools. In aiding this
movement he has himself been a prolific writer in many fields. His
choral works include the six oratorios--_Lucifer_ (1866), _Die Schelde_
(1869), _Prometheus_ (1868), _Der Krieg_ (1880), _Der Rhein_ (1889)
and the ‘Children’s Oratorio’--a choral symphony (‘The Mowers’), and
in addition many cantatas, among them one for children’s voices (‘Into
the World’), of great beauty and practical value for school purposes.
In style Benoît is influenced sometimes by Franck and sometimes by
Schumann and the later Germans; there are few traces of a strongly
individual style.
_Lucifer_, Benoît’s most important composition and one of the best
of its period, was written in 1865 and first performed in Brussels in
1866. The text is by Emanuel Hiel. It shows distinctly the presence of
a progressive spirit in Belgium and France, though the former country
welcomed the oratorio more heartily than did the latter. The subject is
the thrice-attempted effort of Satan to gain victory over a divinely
protected humanity; but the text is so allegorical and so unskillfully
put together that it no longer takes hold of the listener’s interest.
Portions of the work, especially the agitated passages, are
characterized by unrestrained emotional expression. The solos are
generally pleasing and lyric, though not deep--the whole affording
contrasts which hold the attention. The orchestration is brilliant for
the period and the choral-writing skillful. The employment of leading
motives, to which the composer himself called attention (though as a
whole they are not very characteristic), stamped the work as being very
modern in style at the time it was written. It no doubt had a large
influence on Benoît’s contemporaries, especially on Franck, whose later
oratorios, though constructed with vastly greater skill and genius,
show many similar traits.
IV
The ‘Christmas Oratorio’ (_Noël_) of Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (born
1835), although constructed in the oratorio style, scarcely exceeds the
dimensions of a cantata. It calls for five soloists, and is scored for
strings, organ and, in one number, the harp. While the text is based on
the story of the Nativity, only two numbers mention the birth of Jesus
and these at the beginning of the work, the remainder being liturgical
matter, such as the Magnificat, Benedictus and Gloria Patri, and the
triumph of the Church--all appropriate to the Christmas season. A
quaint and melodious pastoral introduction of some length leads into a
recitative, ‘And there were shepherds,’ after which the announcement to
the shepherds is apportioned among three solo voices, closing with the
chorus, ‘Glory to God in the highest.’ The most dramatic chorus in the
work is ‘Wherefore are the nations raging,’ to which the accompaniment
in itself furnishes an atmosphere of wild unrest. A portion of the
opening pastoral prelude is heard again in the next to the last number,
before the quintet takes up the words, ‘Arise now, Daughter of Zion,’
which, especially in the ‘Alleluia’ portion, contains some beautiful
writing for the solo voices. A final chorus, written in majestic hymn
style and also closing with an oft-repeated ‘Alleluia,’ concludes the
oratorio. The composition, though short, is exceedingly beautiful, not
only in its graceful and melodious voice-parts, but in its delicate and
striking accompaniments.
‘The Deluge,’ a biblical scene which Saint-Saëns wrote in 1875, has
steadily maintained its place in the choral repertoire. It is an
effective, artistic work, nobly conceived and true to the scriptural
narrative. The orchestra takes a leading part in the vivid portrayal
of the commotions of Nature--the approaching rain, gradually bursting
into torrents, the rising of the flood, the buoyancy of the ark as
it ‘floated upon the mournful ocean,’ the darkness, and finally the
receding waters. The narration of the most important events is given to
the chorus, while the minor incidents are delegated to the soloists,
largely in recitative. Especially effective is the passage at the
beginning of the second part in which it is related that ‘the sun
disappeared’ and ‘the rains from heaven poured,’ where the choral parts
have little melodic movement, dwelling much on one tone, as though awed
at the magnitude of the calamity, while the storm-tossed accompaniment
vividly depicts the fierce force of the elements. One of the finest
numbers is the fugal chorus, ‘This race will I blot out forever.’
In striking contrast to this is the delicately scored scene of the
departing and the returning dove and the rainbow-music. The work closes
with a massive contrapuntal chorus, in which the solo quartet joins,
‘Now increase, grow and multiply.’
Jules Massenet (1842-1912) has made several excursions into the field
of choral music, but has never been quite able to throw off his
theatrical associations. His oratorios are _Ève_ (1875), _La Vierge_
(‘The Holy Virgin’), a sacred legend in four scenes (1880), and _La
terre promise_ (‘The Promised Land,’ 1900). In addition is a four-act
sacred drama, _Marie Madeleine_ (1873), which is utterly theatrical.
_Ève_, a mystery which Massenet wrote in 1875, though not deeply
conceived, is full of beautiful color. It is in three parts, the first
being ‘The Birth of Woman.’ At the beginning of the part the composer
has written in the score: ‘Serene Nature round Man in his sleep. A pure
light is spread over Creation, and from the new-born Earth light vapors
illumined by the Sun rise on the horizon. A soft breeze undulates the
flowers of the field and the waves of the sea.’ Part second, ‘Eve in
Solitude’ (The Temptation), bears this superscription: ‘Starlit sky.
A balmy night. In the forest solitude Eve walks in deep thought far
from Adam. Trembling and enchanted she listens to the voices of the
night which murmur around her.’ In these surroundings she sings an
aria of narcotic sweetness, _O nuit, douce nuit_ (‘O night! gentle
night’), which discloses how receptive she is to the alluring voices
of sweet temptation. The third part is ‘The Fall.’ It is impossible
to think of Massenet’s character of Eve with any degree of sympathy,
as she is depicted simply as an easily tempted Parisienne, with all
the characteristics of a frail and sentimental woman. According to the
text, she plucks from the tree, not the fruit of the knowledge of good
and evil, but of love, which is here styled ‘the forbidden fruit.’ The
eating of the fruit brings on a rapturous love-duet (_con passione_) in
true theatrical style, and the happy pair are banished from Eden--for
loving!
_Marie Madeleine_, a work which Massenet calls a sacred drama, was
written in 1873 and performed at the Odéon Théâtre, Paris, the same
year. It consists of three acts, (1) Magdalen at the Fountain,
(2) Jesus before Mary Magdalene, (3) Golgotha, including the
scenes, ‘Magdalen at the Cross,’ ‘At the Tomb of Jesus,’ and the
‘Resurrection.’ The persons represented are Mary Magdalene, Martha,
Jesus and Judas, together with choruses of disciples, Pharisees,
scribes, publicans, soldiers, servants, holy women and people.
One who is in sympathy with the inspiring Bible narrative, so
beautifully treated in dramatic literature, finds it difficult to
become reconciled to the extraneous, irrelevant material brought into
the text and elaborated in the music--for example, the introduction of
Judas as a lover of the Magdalen and a chorus of women who taunt her.
The music abounds in dramatic, Oriental coloring and rich melody. The
two tableaux in the third act are very realistic, the first presenting
the ‘Crucifixion,’ and the second, the ‘Ascension.’
Théodore Dubois (b. 1837) has worked much in the field of choral music.
Besides many pieces of church-music and five cantatas, he has written
three oratorios--‘The Seven Last Words of Christ’ (1867), a short and
easy setting of the familiar Passion-scene; ‘Paradise Lost,’ which is
given some space below; and _Nôtre-Dame de la Mer_ (1897).
‘Paradise Lost’ (_Le Paradis perdu_), for the composition of which
Dubois won the City of Paris prize in 1878, is a dramatic oratorio in
four parts. The text, by Édouard Bau, is based on Milton’s great poem.
It is a fresh, spontaneous work, and abounds in striking tone-pictures,
the most unique of which is the fierce struggle in Part I between the
forces of Heaven and of Hell (the faithful and the rebellious angels).
The superscription of the orchestral introduction is a commentary on
the sombre nature of the music: ‘Before the Creation of our Earth,
while Chaos yet reigned ... the host of angels, called from the ends
of Heaven, assembled before the throne of the Almighty.’ This prelude
is at once followed by the chorus of seraphim and the recitative of
the Archangel. The first two parts, ‘The Revolt’ and ‘Hell,’ portray
the contest of Satan and his angels against the archangels and the
faithful, and the condition of the lost angels in their new abode of
torment. The third part, ‘Paradise,’ includes the temptation and the
fall of man, and the fourth, ‘The Judgment,’ tells of the upheaval
on the earth, the despair of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from
Paradise. Among the best portions of the work might be named the
opening of Part III, a beautiful picture of a morning in Paradise
(ushered in by the orchestra and taken up chorally by the spirits who
guard Eden); the simple, devout prayer of Adam and Eve (in duet form);
and a grandiose concerted piece, ‘O God, avenging and righteous,’ which
is sung by Adam, Eve, the Archangel and the chorus of seraphim. The
characterization of Satan is particularly strong throughout the work.
Interesting is the French viewpoint, which depicts the chivalrous Adam
unwilling to allow the blame for the first sin to rest upon his spouse:
‘Pardon the woman.... I ‘twas who led her astray!’ he pleads before the
Archangel who passes sentence upon the guilty pair. Many pages of the
music approach closely to the boundaries of sentimentality.
V
In the field of English oratorio we find the same contributing
composers as in the cantata-form of this period and the same
progressive spirit and virile qualities that sought out and found
individual forms of expression (see Chapter VI). The principal oratorio
writers of the period in the United Kingdom are Mackenzie, Parry,
Stanford, Sullivan and Cowen.
‘The Rose of Sharon,’ a dramatic oratorio by Alexander Campbell
Mackenzie (born 1847), was first produced at the Norwich Festival,
Oct. 16. 1884, the composer conducting. Mackenzie speaks of the
production of this work as the ‘turning point’ of his career. The
first performance met with enormous success and it was received in
all parts of the United Kingdom with extraordinary marks of approval.
The text by Joseph Bennett is based upon the Song of Solomon and the
persons represented are the Sulamite (the Rose of Sharon), a woman (the
narrator), the Beloved and Solomon, the chorus being variously made
up of princes, nobles, officers of the court, elders, villagers and
soldiers. It is in four parts in addition to a prologue which indicates
the parabolic character of the drama and an epilogue which points
its moral. The four parts are: (1) Separation, (2) Temptation, (3)
Victory, and (4) Reunion. The principal motive of the work is revealed
in the words which the Sulamite sings--‘Love is strong as death and
unconquerable as the grave.’
The story relates how the Sulamite is seen by Solomon, who at once
becomes enamored of her and tears her away from her Beloved, placing
her in his own harem, where, although surrounded by every luxury which
royal favor can devise, she still remains loyal to her Beloved. After
every effort on the part of Solomon, the nobles and the women of the
court, the Sulamite continues to sing ‘My Beloved pastures his flock
among the lilies’ and she is finally restored to him, after which they
return together to the vineyards. The score is heavily loaded with
beautiful passages--lyric, pastoral and dramatic--for choral and solo
parts alike. The composer uses with great skill and effectiveness four
motives--the Love motive associated with the above quotation and a
motive associated with each of the three principal characters. Some
of the loveliest parts of the work are the long dialogue between the
Sulamite and her Beloved in the first part; the simple ‘The Lord is my
Shepherd’ which the Sulamite, alone in Solomon’s palace, devoutly sings
as she longingly remembers the scenes from which she has been parted;
the stately chorus, ‘Make a joyful noise unto the Lord,’ accompanying
the procession of the ark; the chorus of shepherds and vine-dressers;
the jubilant chorus, ‘Sing, O Heavens! be joyful, O Earth!’ as the
villagers greet the returning lovers, which chorus leads into a
rapturous duet that prepares the way for a chorale-like finale in which
all join.
‘Bethlehem’ is a mystery in two acts, Mackenzie here using this term in
preference to ‘oratorio’ as better indicating the nature of the work,
which preserves a quaintness of narrative style throughout. The text is
by Joseph Bennett and the work made its appearance in 1894. The events
of the first act or part take place in the fields of Bethlehem, where
angels appear to the shepherds, comforting them with good news and
singing an anthem of praise to God, returning to heaven and leaving the
shepherds astounded at the vision. They talk together of the wondrous
sight and, as dawn appears, the people of Bethlehem gather together
and they all rejoice and sing a carol. The scene of the second act is
Bethlehem. A host of ‘arméd cherubim’ guard the new-born King as the
blessed mother sweetly sings to her babe. But the shepherds with some
people of Bethlehem seek the Holy Babe through the city to worship Him;
likewise certain kings from the East, whose salutations the blessed
mother answers. As the kings marvel and offer gifts, all join in humble
and devout adoration of the Holy Child. The quaintness of style is
preserved in the music also, yet without sacrificing its dignity.
‘Judith’ (‘The Regeneration of Manasseh’) was the first oratorio
of Parry (b. 1848), although he had already written several of the
long series of choral works that mark him as one of England’s great
composers. It was produced at the Birmingham Festival of 1888. The
persons in the action are Manasseh, king of Israel; Meshullemeth, his
wife; his children; Judith; a High Priest of Moloch; and a messenger of
Holofernes. The text, by the composer, is in two acts. In the first,
the priests of Moloch demand the children of Manasseh for sacrifice,
but as they are about to be offered up, Judith appears and endeavors
to save them. She is herself saved from the wrath of the people only
by the coming of the Assyrians, who lay Jerusalem in ruins and carry
off Manasseh a prisoner to Babylon. But the captive king repents of
his sins against God and is permitted to return to Jerusalem. In the
second act, while the Jews are lamenting over the desolation of their
city, a messenger from the Assyrian general, Holofernes, arrives and
demands new terms of submission and tribute. Here Judith comes to the
rescue; she exhorts the Jews to have confidence in God’s help, makes
her way to the Assyrian camp and to the tent of Holofernes and strikes
him down with her own hand. The Israelites, fired by her heroism,
fall upon their bewildered enemies and scatter them, returning to
Jerusalem and praising the God of Israel. The Moloch choruses are very
characteristic, some of them fierce and barbaric, while the march
of the Assyrian host at the close of the first part is stately and
majestic. One of the loveliest parts is the scene between Meshullemeth
and her children as she sings, in answer to their questions, the
simple, pathetic ballad of Israel’s ancient escape from Egypt and the
Red Sea.
‘Job’ was written for the Gloucester Festival of 1892 and is much
shorter than the preceding oratorio. Parry’s treatment of the familiar
story of the patriarch’s misfortunes is at once individual and poetic.
He groups the events into four scenes, opening the first one with a
noble, serene theme in the orchestra, associated with the ‘perfect
and upright man that feared God,’ and appropriately using it again to
bring the whole work to a close. The narrator is given an important
rôle, but the climax of the work is Job’s lengthy lament for his losses
in the third scene. The music is noble and of sustained dignity and
impressiveness.
‘King Saul,’ Parry’s third oratorio, was performed at the Birmingham
Festival of 1894. It relates, in a series of ten scenes grouped into
four acts, the main events in the picturesque life of this king
of Israel. The prophet Samuel and the youthful shepherd David are
prominent persons in the narrative, while the introduction of the Witch
of Endor scene gives opportunity for music of vividly descriptive
character. Among many fine lyric passages are the love-duet of David
and Michal and David’s devotional psalm after the battle with the
Philistines (‘Let us lift up our eyes unto the mountains, whence cometh
our help’). The choral-writing throughout is marked by unerring skill
and noteworthy effectiveness.
VI
‘The Three Holy Children,’ by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (born
1852), was written for the Birmingham Festival of 1885. The words
are taken in the main from those parts of the Old Testament and
the Apocrypha that deal with the captivity of the Jews under
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. This king had erected a great image of
Bel in the valley of Dura and commanded that all his subjects worship
it under penalty of death by fire. A company of Jewish women, by the
waters of Babylon, are mourning over their captivity, when they are
taunted by some Assyrian soldiers on their way to worship Bel and
they reply with songs of their beloved country and with imprecations
on their enemies. Ananias, Azarias and Misael, three prominent Jews,
denounce the worship of idols and refuse to bow down to Bel. They are
dragged before the king and cast into the fiery furnace; but the flames
do them no harm and the amazed king releases them and joins with the
multitude in praising God ‘that hath sent His angel and delivered His
servants that trusted in Him.’
‘Eden,’ a dramatic oratorio, is a strong setting of Robert Bridges’
poem and found first presentation, as have several others of Stanford’s
choral works, at the Birmingham Festival, this one in 1891. The poem
is an elaborate epic of large dimensions, involving in its action many
characters (Adam, Eve, Satan, Michael, Angels of Earth, Sun, Music,
Poetry, etc.) and for its choral elements, calling upon angels, devils,
furies, all-seers, etc. With this complicated dramatic machinery
Stanford has built an imposing musical structure--grand, terrible in
places, of ravishing beauty in others--always skillfully fashioned
and of compelling appeal, especially in the choral parts. The poem is
divided into three acts: I, Heaven; II, Hell; III, Earth (Part 1, The
Fall; Part 2, Adam’s Vision). In the first and third acts the composer
drops into the old ecclesiastical modal style for pages at a time with
beautiful effect. Indeed, he takes for some of his most important
thematic material two phrases of the plain-song melody _Sanctorum
meritis_ (from the _Sarum Missal_) and weaves them into choral passages
with the skill of a sixteenth-century church-contrapuntist. Especially
beautiful, among such portions, are the opening six-part chorus of all
angels (‘God of might! God of love!’) and a five-part _a cappella_
chorus (‘Flames of pure love are we’)--the latter in the pure style of
a _Madrigale spirituale_.
‘The Prodigal Son,’ which is the first of Sullivan’s oratorios,
received its first performance at the Worcester Festival, Sept.
3, 1869, for which occasion it was written. The text, compiled by
the composer, is based on the well-known parable, the shortness of
which, however, has necessitated the introduction of other Scriptural
material; so that only six of the eighteen numbers deal directly
with the narrative, while the other twelve reflect on the lessons it
teaches. In a preface to the work, Sullivan explains his conception of
the Prodigal as ‘a buoyant, restless youth, tired of the monotony of
home, and anxious to see what lay beyond the confines of his father’s
farm, going away in the confidence of his own simplicity and ardor, and
led gradually away into the follies and sins which at the outset would
have been distasteful to him.’
The musical treatment is melodious, opening, after a short orchestral
prelude, with the joyous, though reflective, chorus, ‘There is joy in
the presence of the angels of God,’ preceded by a brief soprano solo.
The parable then opens with tenor recitative and aria, ‘A certain man
had two sons,’ and armed with the good counsel of his father, the
prodigal son starts away. He is heard from in the chorus of revelry,
‘Let us eat and drink; to-morrow we die.’ The admonishing contralto
solo, ‘Love not the world,’ is well known, having found its way to
concert programs. After an orchestral prelude the soprano declaims in
recitative the Prodigal’s experience as a swineherd and his struggle
with famine, closing with the aria, ‘O that thou had’st harkened.’
The repentance of the Prodigal is beautifully expressed in the tenor
aria, ‘How many hired servants of my father.’ A chorus, ‘The sacrifices
of God,’ is followed by the Prodigal’s return--the joy of the father
being expressed in the bass aria, ‘For this my son was dead.’ One of
the finest choruses in the work, ‘O that men would praise the Lord,’
is soon followed by the unaccompanied quartet, ‘The Lord is nigh,’ and
the final chorus, ‘Thou, O Lord, art our Father,’ closes with a joyous
‘Hallelujah.’
‘The Light of the World,’ the second of Sullivan’s oratorios and much
longer than the first, was written for the Birmingham Festival and
performed there on August 27, 1873. The composer’s plan is set forth in
the preface as follows: ‘The work has been laid out in scenes dealing
respectively, in the first part, with the nativity, preaching, healing
and prophesying of our Lord, ending with the triumphal entry into
Jerusalem; and in the second part with the utterances which, containing
the avowal of himself as the Son of Man, excited to the utmost the
wrath of his enemies, and led the rulers to conspire for his betrayal
and death; the solemn recital by the chorus of his sufferings, and
the belief in his final reward; the grief of Mary Magdalene at the
sepulchre; and the consolation and triumph of the disciples at the
resurrection of their Lord and Master.’
The first part is divided into four scenes--‘Bethlehem,’ ‘Nazareth,’
‘Lazarus’ and ‘The Way to Jerusalem.’ The second part contains
two--‘Jerusalem’ and ‘At the Sepulchre.’ The first scene, dealing
with the narrative of the shepherds, the announcement by the angel
and the Magnificat sung by Mary, is introduced by a pastoral prelude
which establishes the atmosphere of the scene. In the second scene,
‘Nazareth,’ are two very dramatic choruses, ‘Whence hath this man
his wisdom?’ and ‘Is not this Jesus?’ It contains also an effective
quintet, ‘Doubtless thou art our Father,’ and a well-written chorus,
‘He maketh the sun to rise,’ which is one of the finest in the
work. The ‘Lazarus’ scene is darksome throughout, while ‘The Way to
Jerusalem,’ strongly contrasted with the preceding, is festive in
character and contains a beautiful three-part chorus for children’s
voices, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David.’ The first part closes with a
massive ‘Hosanna’ chorus combined with a trio for female solo voices.
The anger and dissension caused by the Lord’s sojourn in Jerusalem are
dramatically depicted in an introduction which opens the second part
and which is followed by an expressive baritone solo, ‘When the Son of
Man shall come.’ This scene also contains a charming chorus for women’s
voices, ‘The hour is come,’ and the expressive farewell of Jesus,
‘Daughters of Jerusalem.’ The crucifixion is not brought into the work
except by indirect mention in a chorus and the work closes with the
scene ‘At the Sepulchre,’ in which an angel tells the waiting Mary
Magdalene that Christ has risen. This leads, after a tenor solo, to the
final fugal chorus, ‘Him hath God exalted.’
Frederic Hymen Cowen (born 1852) wrote two oratorios that fall within
this period--‘The Deluge’ (1878), and ‘Ruth,’ written for the Worcester
Festival of 1887. The incidents of the familiar story of ‘Ruth’
(here called a dramatic oratorio) are grouped into two parts by the
librettist, Joseph Bennett, and the composer has given throughout a
pleasing, though not deep, musical setting to the text.
VII
Oratorio by native American composers is a very young product and
practically dates from the composition of Paine’s ‘St. Peter,’ though
several works with the title of oratorio had been written before this.
Paine, however, was the first American to approach his task with an
adequate equipment of ripe musicianship and knowledge of technical
means of expression. As yet he has been followed in this field by
comparatively few American composers, though many worthy works in
cantata-form have been written.
‘St. Peter,’ by John K. Paine (1839-1906), received its first
performance in Portland, Maine, in June, 1873, under the direction of
the composer. Its second performance took place in Boston on May 9,
1874, by the Handel and Haydn Society. The main theme of the oratorio
is the establishment of Christianity, as illustrated by the four
main events in the life of St. Peter. It consists of two parts--(1)
The Divine Call, followed by the denial of Peter and his repentance,
and (2) The Ascension and Pentecost. The work abounds in strong,
well-written choruses and beautiful arias, which, where the text
demands it, become at times touching (as, for example, in the aria,
‘Let not your hearts be troubled’) and at times dramatic, as is the
scene of the emphatic denials of Peter and the accusations of the
people. A noble chorus, ‘Awake, thou that sleepest,’ closes the first
part. Probably the most beautiful choral number, however, is in the
second part, ‘The voice of the Lord,’ which follows the description of
the Pentecostal miracle; though it is not massive, as is the majestic
closing chorus, ‘Great and marvellous are Thy works.’
Horatio Parker’s _Hora Novissima_, the most ambitious and finely
conceived choral work by an American, was written in 1892, while the
composer was associated with Dvořák as teacher of counterpoint in the
National Conservatory of Music in New York, and received its first
hearing on May 3, 1893, when it was given by the Church Choral Society
of New York under the direction of the composer. Soon after it was
given in Boston and at the Festivals of Cincinnati and Worcester,
Mass. In 1899 it was the chief novelty at the Three Choirs Festival
in Worcester, England (also conducted by the composer), and bears the
distinction of being the first work of an American to be performed
under these historic auspices.
The subject of the oratorio deals with the New Jerusalem and the
text, selected from a Latin poem of the twelfth century by the monk
Bernard de Morlaix entitled ‘The Rhythm of the Celestial Country,’ has
been most skillfully translated by the composer’s mother, Isabella G.
Parker. The oratorio consists of eleven numbers grouped into two parts,
and the larger portion of it is choral, there being only four numbers
for solo voices. The opening chorus, following the instrumental prelude
in which the principal motives are set forth, begins with the words,
_Hora novissima_ (‘Cometh earth’s latest hour’), which at once reveals
the composer’s dignified style of choral writing. The most effective
portion of the first part, however, is the fugal chorus. _Pars mea,
rex meus_ (‘Most Mighty, most Holy’), which is built up on massive
lines. Another very broad and truly splendid number is the joyous
double chorus, _Stant Syon atria_ (‘There stand those walls on high’),
which is in the second part. An _a cappella_ chorus, _Urbs Syon unica_
(‘City of high renown’), is finely developed in strict fugal form and
leads over into the final number--broad and again fugally treated--for
quartet and chorus, _Urbs Syon inclyta_ (‘Thou city great and high’),
which forms a majestic close to a noble work, conceived on broad lines
and constructed with conspicuous skill and scholarship. Among the solo
portions the lovely soprano aria, _O bone patria_ (‘O country, bright
and fair’), is especially distinguished by graceful, dignified and
appealing melody.
‘The Legend of St. Christopher,’ a dramatic oratorio on a theme that
has often been chosen by composers, was written soon after the _Hora
Novissima_ and was published in 1898. In September, 1902, Parker
conducted the third part of this oratorio at the Worcester (England)
Festival and in October of the same year the entire work was performed
at the Bristol Festival. The text, as in the case of many of the
composer’s choral works, is by his mother, Isabella G. Parker. It
presents in attractive poetic form the main features of the familiar
legend and requires the following characters: Offerus, the King, the
Queen, the Hermit and Satan. The chorus frequently assumes the burden
of narration. The legend relates how the giant Offerus sought the
mightiest earthly monarch, that he might serve him with his great
strength and stature. But he finds that the king to whom he attaches
himself is not the mightiest on earth, for he fears Satan, whom the
giant straightway seeks to serve. Satan in turn trembles as they pass
a cross by the roadside before which women are singing a hymn to the
Lord of Heaven. Offerus finally finds a hermit who serves this Lord of
Heaven and who teaches him the meaning of service. During a furious
storm at night a child with a quiet light upon its head piteously begs
to be carried across the raging stream. Offerus heeds the cry and
carries the child in his strong arms, only to find, when he reaches
the further shore, that it was the Christ-child he bore; the hermit
exclaims ‘Christopher be now thy name, thine henceforth by rightful
claim.’
The musical handling of the theme shows the composer’s marked skill
and preference for choral-writing. The choral portions of the work
are the strongest, though there are not wanting lyric solo-passages
of great beauty, as witness the melodies assigned to the Queen and
the Hermit, and the fine trio in the last part (an Angel, the Hermit
and Offerus). It would be difficult to find among modern works a more
exquisite piece of effective unaccompanied part-writing than Parker has
given in his setting of the Latin hymn, _Jam sol recedit igneus_, which
follows immediately after the above trio.