CHAPTER IX
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