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.
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