THE commonly received opinion[1] that the oratorio originated in the
devotional exercises held in the oratories of monasteries,
{ORIGIN OF ORATORIO.}
(193)
and thrown into the form of a musical drama by Filippo Neri (1515-1595),
is without foundation. All that can confidently be asserted is that he
caused _laudi spirituali_, a kind of motett,[2] to be sung by way
of recreation, and that he organised carnival performances
("rappresentazioni") which withdrew the mind from worldly follies;[3]
whether, and in what degree, music had to do with these we do not
know.[4]
The "Rappresentazione dell' Anima e del Corpo," by Emilio de' Cavalieri,
who sought to reproduce the old tragedy on the same principles as Peri
in the opera, was arranged for representation on a stage ("palco"),
with scenery, costumes, and dances, and contained recitatives and
choruses.[5] One performance took place, according to the preface to the
score, in February, 1599, in the oratorium of the church of S. Maria,
in Vallicella,[6] and this Della Valle remembered having attended when a
boy.[7] Henceforward sacred dialogues and
{ORATORIO.}
(194)
dramas set to music were frequent in Rome and elsewhere, and were given
not only before the congregation _dell' oratorio_,[8] but in churches,
monasteries, and palaces. The history of the development of these
rappresentazione or azione sacra, also called oratorio,[9] has not yet
been traced in detail.[10]
In time the performances were confined to Lent, when no opera was
given, and although action and costume gradually disappeared from the
churches,[11] and the whole assumed more and more the form of a concert,
yet the dramatic element, or at least the dialogue, always remained.
The connection with the service of the church was so far maintained that
a mass and an address from a boy preceded the oratorio, and a sermon was
delivered between its two parts.[12]
The growth of the azione sacra kept pace with that of the opera seria.
Apostolo Zeno defined the form of the oratorio by giving it unity of
action, time and place, and strict dramatic treatment, and Metastasio
carried on and completed the work just as he had done in the opera.
Its division was into two, not three parts, otherwise the arrangement
corresponded altogether with that of the opera. The characters enter
speaking; recitative is employed for the dialogue, and the airs serve
{"LA BETULIA LIBBRATA," 1773.}
(195)
to express the higher emotions; concerted songs occur but seldom, but
the choruses are frequent, and more often form a part of the action than
in the opera.
The subject-matter is borrowed from the Bible, generally the Old
Testament, or from some old legend; but both persons and plot must of
necessity be devised, so as to represent the story in a succession of
dialogues. An effort is made to preserve the biblical diction in the
poetry, but the animated rhetorical style of Italian poetry decidedly
gets the upper hand. Moral and religious reflections are the almost
invariable themes of the songs and choruses, which have rarely any
individual character. In this respect, as well as in the dearth of
dramatic action, the azione sacra comes nearer to the so-called azione
teatrale than to the genuine opera seria.
The legend of Judith is treated as follows by Metastasio, in his
oratorio "La Betulia Liberata," which has often been composed.[13]The
_dramatis persona_ ("interlocutori") are:--[See Page Image]
Ozia reproaches the desponding inhabitants of Bethulia for their
cowardice, and declares his resolution not to give up the city to the
enemy. Amital and Cabri oppose him, describing the sufferings of the
people from famine and sickness. In vain he reminds them how the Lord
has helped their fathers, they demand admission to Holofernes, and it is
with difficulty that he obtains a delay of five days, and calls upon God
for help, with the chorus. Then Judith enters; horrified at
{ORATORIO.}
(196)
the decision, she upbraids them for their cowardice which dares to doubt
God's mercy and set a limit to His power: "il primo è vile, temerario
il secondo." Her song (5) may serve as a standard for the style of this
poetry:
Del pari infeconda
D' un flume è la sponda,
Se torbido eccede,
Se manca d' amor.
Si acqaista baldanza
Per troppo speranza,
Si perde la fede
Per troppo rumor.
She exhorts the trembling people to trust and patience, and informs them
that she has formed a great resolve, which as yet she can communicate
to no one; while she prepares herself, all are to unite in prayer;
the former chorus is repeated. Carmi brings Achior as a prisoner, who
relates that, having told Holofemes of the courage of the Israelites and
the wonderful power of their God, who renders them invincible as long
as they trust in Him, he has been sent into the city to share its
destruction. Judith approaching, is left alone with Ozia, who is
surprised to see her richly adorned; she demands egress from the town
with her maid, and departs, the chorus (in the distance) expressing
astonishment at her enterprise.
In the second part Ozia seeks to convince the heathen Achior that there
is but one God. Before his arguments have been quite successful Amital
enters and describes the death-stillness, expressive of the extreme
of need and despair, which hangs over the city. Shrieks and tumult
interrupt him; Judith returns, and relates how she has slain Holofernes;
she holds the decapitated head before the incredulous Achior, who swoons
for fear. After Judith's song, he comes to himself and declares his
conversion to the faith of the God of Abraham. Carmi enters, and relates
that at Judith's bidding they had raised a war-cry; the Assyrians,
discovering the death of Holofernes, were seized with terror and fled
precipitately.
A song of thanksgiving to God, in which Judith leads the chorus, forms
the conclusion.
The composers treated the oratorio in the same way as the opera
seria,[14] only that the want of dramatic variety favoured the adoption
of the concert style of music. In its form there was no important
difference; we find the same treatment of the recitatives, secco and
obbligato, of the songs and of all important parts, including the
choruses; only
{"BETULIA"--OVERTURE.}
(197)
that the bass voice is made use of in solo singing. We might expect to
find the musical conceptions inspired by earnestness and reverence;
and this was so far the case that the oratorio excluded all that was
trifling, voluptuous, or that related to the passion of love. But a
religious tone was entirely wanting, and the operatic style was only
modified, not essentially altered. Every song in an oratorio would have
been quite in place at a corresponding point in an opera seria, and many
operatic songs might have been transferred to an oratorio with perfect
propriety. The bravura of the vocalists was considered as appropriate in
the churches as on the stage, only that a certain amount of moderation
was becoming.
During Lent, when the opera was closed, the public looked for
entertainment to the oratorios, and flattered themselves that they were
at the same time fulfilling a religious duty, because the performance
took place in a church.
Mozart's music to "Betulia Liberata" (118 K.) is quite on this level.
There are unfortunately no indications of time or place on the original
score, which exists in two volumes of 382 pages and fifteen numbers; the
handwriting and composition place it undoubtedly between 1770 and 1773.
As we know that Mozart received a commission for an oratorio at Padua
in March, 1771, it may safely be conjectured that this was the "Betulia
Liberata," and that it was performed in Padua in 1772.[15]
The three movements of the overture in D minor are quiet and more
concentrated than usual; the arrangement of the parts is more
independent, with attempts at imitative treatment. Besides oboes and
bassoons, there are four horns (in D and F), and trumpets (in D), used
frequently and in the same manner as at present.
{ORATORIO.}
(198)
A secco recitative follows the overture; the music never rises above the
dialogue, with its long, sermonising speeches and rhetorical bombastic
reflections. There are only two accompanied recitatives: the first
occurs when Judith upbraids the people; short and skilfully modulated
instrumental phrases interrupt the animated declamation, and the whole
is lively and expressive. Later on Judith delivers the long narrative
of her adventure with Holofemes (II) in an accompanied recitative.
The stringed instruments strike the chord in a high pitch, with which
Judith's alto voice strongly contrasts. There are but few agitated
passages; but, indeed, even in stirring moments the music never reaches
anything like characterisation. The prayer of Judith at the most
critical point of the piece is not conspicuous either for tunefulness or
varied accompaniment.
The solo parts are distributed among all the four voices: for Amital,
Cabri and Carmi are soprani, Judith alto, Ozia tenor, and Achior bass;
they are never united in an ensemble, and there is not one duet.
Judith has three airs, besides a solo with chorus. The first (5)
approaches as near as possible to a bravura song. The words are
expressed with grace and animation. The passages are neither predominant
nor tedious, which is doubtless due in part to the singer for whom the
part was composed, for the second song (7), powerful and dignified as
it is, is also without passages; it begins with the favourite
long-sustained note. The chief movement of the last song (11)--a long
adagio with a carefully composed accompaniment--is finely descriptive
of Judith's mood, but there is no appeal to the feelings by beautiful
melody. The whole part is not bravura in the strictest sense; the deeper
alto notes are only occasionally employed.
That this moderation of style was not inseparable from the character
of oratorio music, may be seen from the parts of Amital and Ozia. The
second song for Amital (10) and the first for Ozia (1) are regular
serious bravura songs, with passages, long-sustained notes, and florid
accompaniments. Amital's last song (13) is solemn and earnest, to suit
the words, but still keeps the performer well in view; Ozia's
{"BETULIA"--ARIE, CHORUSES.}
(199)
second song is soft and graceful, and the first which reminds us of
Mozart's later style.
The bass part of Achior is less carefully written, and not nearly so
bravura in style. The first song (6) is more noisy than vigorous, both
in voice and accompaniment. This boisterous treatment of the bass voice
was then common, and it was on that account excluded from the opera
seria.[16] In this place it accords with the dread apparition of
Holofernes which is described. The second song of Achior, after his
conversion (12), is very simple and insignificant; the accompaniment is
partly imitative.
The two airs of Cabri (2) and Carmi (14) are, as usual with secondary
parts, simple, and not without expression, but in no way original.
The traditional aria form is adhered to in almost all the songs. The
second part, distinct from the first in composition if not in time and
measure, is short and superficially treated; generally only the last
part of the first movement is repeated. The latter is broadly conceived,
with long ritomelli; the invariable cadenza is brought in in the usual
way. The accompaniment resembles that of operatic songs, but is
more carefully worked out. Original passages for the second
violins--sometimes, too, for the violas--occur, here and there, as well
as attempts at imitation; and the wind instruments are occasionally
employed independently. All these attempts show decided talent, but
they are few and far between, and the orchestra has not the stamp of
independent vigour.
The choruses, although occupying more space in the composition, do not
materially differ from those of the opera. The concluding chorus of the
first part (8) is like a study for a recitative, turned into a chorus
by means of the accompaniment, which consists of two alternate strongly
marked subjects. The elaboration is not contrapuntal, but
{ORATORIO.}
(200)
harmonic, and a simple but rich modulation gives significance to the
movement. The voices give the full harmony, and a moderate amount of
agitation in the melody and rhythm appears when the declamation demands
it. The favourable pitch, the interesting modulation, the characteristic
accompaniments, and the dignified seriousness which runs through the
whole, all combine to make this chorus effective and excellent of its
kind.
The two other choruses are prayers connected with solos. The first (4)
is very simple. Ozia sings a melodious, beautifully conceived cantilene,
full of feeling, which is accompanied by the violins pizzicato, and the
chorus ends with a repetition of the two last lines. The second verse,
with a change of composition, preserves the same character; after which
the first is repeated, and leads with effective climax to a full close.
The last chorus is more grandly conceived. Judith answers the
thanksgiving of the chorus in two strophes descriptive of the victory,
and then the chorus falls in again; this is repeated three times, and
a moral reflection follows as a closing chorus. Mozart has chosen an
ancient church melody for the refrain of the chorus:--[See Page Image]
The melody is four-part, the partially varied harmony dignified and
powerful, and interesting in its simplicity; the voices are well treated
and animated. At the fourth
{"BETULIA"--COMPARISON WITH HASSE.}
(201)
repetition Mozart has assigned the Cantus firmus, somewhat altered in
the second part, to the tenor voice:--[See Page Image]
Thence he passes to the closing chorus. The solo part of Judith, simple,
dignified, and earnest, resembles a regular song; but the declamatory is
more prominent than the melodious element. Although somewhat overpowered
by the chorus, the character of Judith is here most significantly
expressed. Whenever Mozart allows himself free play, he exhibits
originality, truth, and earnestness.
The closing chorus is lively and brilliant, but kept in moderation, and
its character is not without strength and dignity.
That this conception of the oratorio was not peculiar to Mozart, but was
the then commonly received one, is plain from a comparison of this with
other contemporary oratorios--with those, for instance, by Hasse, which
are reckoned among his most important works. Whoever should form, on
the strength of the eulogies pronounced by Hiller on the oratorio
"Sant-Elena al Calvario,"[17] a conception of this
{ORATORIO.}
(202)
and similar pieces founded on our present ideas of sacred music, would
find himself much deceived. Here, as in all Hasse's oratorios, the
art of the vocalist is the determining element, and the expression of
emotion coincides in essentials with that of the opera. The differences
in Mozart's oratorio are unimportant, and are founded on variations in
the taste of the time and of the composer.
Hiller speaks with great admiration of the pilgrims' chorus, to which
Hasse has set the chorale "O Lamb of God" in such a way "that its whole
attraction consists in the alternation of the voices and of the various
instruments among whom the melody is divided; the bass and violin are
in unison throughout, and give animation to the whole, with a simplicity
that is worth more than ten fugues, and which betrays more insight into
the true beauty of song than the most artistic counterpoint." It almost
seems as if Hiller wished to point at J. S. Bach, and remembering some
of the marvellous creations of Bach--for instance, the first chorus in
the St. Matthew "Passion Music"--the contrast between different artistic
tendencies and personalities can hardly be better exemplified than by
comparing him and Hasse. Hasse has succeeded in bringing the chorale
into accordance with the Italian style of his oratorio, but he loses
thereby the proper significance and effect of the chorale. The way in
which Mozart has introduced the Catholic church melodies unaltered is,
from this point of view, grander and more striking. And Hasse was looked
upon in Mozart's day as a representative of the good old times in the
traditions of which he had been educated.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Winterfeld, Gabrieli, II., p. 146. Kiesewetter, Schicks. d. weltl.
Ges., p. 58.]
[Footnote 2: P. J. Bacci, vita di S. Filippo Neri (Rom., 1646), I., 19,4 p. 81:
Che si cantasse ordino qualche laude spirituale per sollevamento degli
animi degli ascoltanti.]
[Footnote 3: Bacci, II., 7,11: Nel tempo del camevale per levar loro 1' occasione
di andar al corso o aile commedie lascive era solito far fare delle
rappresentationi.]
[Footnote 4: Menestrier (Des Reprès. en Musique, p. 191)--followed by Bonnet,
Hist.de Musique, p. 373, or Bourdelot, Hist, de Mus. I., p. 295--ascribes the
introduction of "musique dramatique" to Filippo Neri: "faisant composer
par les plus habiles maîtres de musique des récits et des dialogues sur
les principaux sujets de l'écriture sainte, il faisoit chanter par les
plus belles voix de Rome ces récits dans son église," and brings forward
as examples "Jesus and the Samaritan Woman," "Job and his Friends," "The
Annunciation," &c. But he seems to have forestalled later performances.]
[Footnote 5: Burney,Gen. Hist, of Mus., IV., p. 96. Kiesewetter, Schicks d.
weltl. Ges., p. 44.]
[Footnote 6: Schelle thought that the vastness of the oratorium of the Chiesa
Nuova was unsuited for such performances (N. Zeitschr. f. Mus., LX., p.
79); but there is decided testimony against this view.]
[Footnote 7: P. delle Valle, in a letter written 1640. Doni, Opp., II.]
[Footnote 8: The celebrated male soprano, Vittorio Loreto, who entered the Papal
Kapelle in 1620 (Lindner zur Tonkunst, p. 43), enchanted the public with
a Magdalene's song, probably by Dom. Mazocchi (Kircher, Musurg., VII.,
9 t. I., p. 674), which he executed in sacello patrun congregations
oratorü (Erythräus, pinac. II., 68).]
[Footnote 9: According to Quadrio (Stor. di ogni poes., V., p. 425) the term
oratorio was first used by Franc. Balducci (d. 1642); in Allacci's
Dramaturgia (Ven., 1755) it often occurs after 1659; historians of
literature, such as Muratori (d. Perfetta Poesia, III., 5) or Apostolo
Zeno (Fontanini, Bibl. d. Eloq. Ital., I., p.489) use it as the
customary one.]
[Footnote 10: The treatises of Fink (in Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopédie, III., 4
p. 405) and Keferstein (A. M. Z., XLV.,p. 873) are very unsatisfactory,]
[Footnote 11: During Lent oratorios were performed in the theatres even at
a later date. Goethe (Werke, XIX., p. 182) saw "The Destruction
of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar" in Naples. Cf. Dittersdorfs
Lebensbeschreibung, p. 144. Teutsch. Mercur, 1789, III., p. 218.]
[Footnote 12: Hiller, Wöchentl. Nachr., I., p. 47. Burney, Reise, I., p. 276. At
Vienna oratorios were regularly performed in the Imperial Chapel, and
afterwards in the theatre, for charitable objects.]
[Footnote 13: It was first brought out at Vienna in 1734, with music by Reutter;
afterwards composed by Flor. Gassmann (Dittersdorfs Selbstbiogr., p.
203), and partially adapted by Salieri in 1821 (Wiener mus. Ztg., V.,
p. 294). It was also composed by Jomelli, Cafaro, Bernasconi in
Munich, 1754, Sales in Coblenz, 1783, Schuster and Naumann in Dresden
(Reichardt, Berl. mus. Ztg., I., p. 171), and by Mussini in Berlin
(Ibid., II., p. 39), &c.]
[Footnote 14: Scheibe, Krit. Musi eus, 22, p. 216.]
[Footnote 15: André informs me that, according to a book of words with which I
am unacquainted, this oratorio was performed in Lent of 1786 (not at
Vienna, as Sonnleithner inferred), and Mozart appears to have composed
another introductory chorus, "Qual fiero caso," and a quintet, "Te solo
adoro," which André conjectures to be in Berlin; they have not been
found, however (Nohl, Musiker-briefe, pp. 335, 337)]
[Footnote 16: Mattheson, Critica Musica, I., p. no: "Dass die tiefen Singbässe
einer Harmonie viele Majestät, viele Harmonie und force geben, ist
unstreitig; ob aber allemahl etwas agréable, und nicht vielmehr sehr
oft was rude und entsetzliches dabei vermacht sey, will dem Zuhörer
ùberlaasen."]
[Footnote 17: Hiller, Wöchentl. Nachr., I., pp. 326, 343, 353.]
====
MOZART
BY DAVID WIDGER