The Standard Oratorios Part 1

The Standard Oratorios.

by George P. Upton.

PREFACE.

The "Standard Oratorios" is intended as a companion to the "Standard Operas;" and with this purpose in view the compiler has followed as closely as possible the same method in the arrangement and presentation of his scheme. The main object has been to present to the reader a comprehensive sketch of the oratorios which may be called "standard,"

outlining the sacred stories which they tell, and briefly indicating and sketching their princ.i.p.al numbers, accompanied in each case with a short biography of the composer and such historical matter connected with the various works as is of special interest. The compiler has also included in his scheme a sketch of the origin and development of the Oratorio as ill.u.s.trated in its three princ.i.p.al evolutionary stages, together with descriptions of several works which are not oratorios in the strict sense, but at the same time are sacred compositions written upon a large scale and usually performed by oratorio societies, such as Bach's "Pa.s.sion Music" and "Magnificat," Berlioz's, Mozart's, and Verdi's Requiems, Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise," Handel's "Dettingen Te Deum,"

Schumann's "Paradise and the Peri," and Rubinstein's "Tower of Babel."

As in the case of the "Standard Operas," the work has been prepared for the general public rather than for musicians, and as far as practicable, technical terms have been avoided. Description, not criticism, has been the purpose of the volume, and the various works are described as fully as the necessarily brief s.p.a.ce allotted to each would allow. The utmost pains have been taken to secure historical and chronological accuracy, inasmuch as these details are nearly always matters of controversy. The favor which has been so generously accorded to the "Standard Operas"

leads the compiler to believe that the "Standard Oratorios" will also be welcomed by those who enjoy the sacred music of the great masters, and that it will prove a valuable addition to other works of musical reference.

G. P. U.

Chicago, September, 1886.

THE ORATORIO.

The oratorio in its modern form is a musical setting of a sacred story or text in a style more or less dramatic. Its various parts are a.s.signed to the four solo voices and to single or double chorus, with accompaniment of full orchestra, sometimes amplified by the organ. Like the opera, it has its recitative, linking together and leading up to the various numbers. The origin of the word is to be found in the "oratory," or place of prayer, where these compositions were first performed. Crescimbeni, one of the earliest musical writers, says: "The oratorio had its origin from San Filippo Neri,[1] who, in his chapel, after sermons and other devotions, in order to allure young people to pious offices, and to detain them from earthly pleasures, had hymns, psalms, and such like prayers sung by one or more voices." In tracing its evolutionary stages, its root will be found in the moralities, mysteries, and miracle-plays of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, which were inst.i.tuted for the purpose of impressing Biblical events in symbolical form upon the early converts to the Christian Church. These representations were entirely dramatic in character, and their subjects, though always sacred, were often grotesquely treated, and sometimes verged on buffoonery. Among the actors, G.o.d, Christ, Satan, Mary, and the angels nearly always appeared; later, the various virtues and vices were personified. The representations were usually given in the streets or in fields, and sometimes on the water. The highest dignitaries of the Church did not disdain to act in these plays, nor did their promoters hesitate at times to reduce the exhibition to the level of a Punch-and-Judy show by the introduction of puppets cleverly manipulated. The earliest of these miracle-plays in England were performed by the various London Companies.

The Tanners, for instance, produced the Fall of Lucifer. The Drapers played the Creation, in which Adam and Eve appeared in their original costume,--apparently without giving offence. The Water-Drawers naturally chose the Deluge. In the scene describing the embarkation of Noah's family, the patriarch has a great deal of trouble with his wife, who is determined not to go aboard. She declares that if her worldly friends are left behind, she will stay and drown with them, and he can

"Rowe forth away when thou liste, And get thee another wif."

Noah expostulates with her in vain, grows furiously indignant, and bids her

"Come in, wif, in twenty devill ways, Or alles stand thee without."

Her friends the gossips entreat her to remain with them, and have a carousal over a "pottel full of malmsey;" but at last Shem makes a virtue of necessity and forces her into the ark, as the following scene shows:--

"In faith, moder, in ye shall, Whither you will or noughte."

NOE.

"Well me wif into this boate."

[_She gives him a box on the ear._]

"Haue you that for thee note."

NOE.

"A le Mary this whote, A childre methinks my boate remeues, Our tarrying here heughly me grieues."

[_She is forced into the ark._]

The earliest of these representations, so far as has been discovered, dates back to the twelfth century, and is known as the Feast of a.s.ses. In these exhibitions, Balaam, superbly habited and wearing an enormous pair of spurs, rode a wooden a.s.s, in which the speaker was concealed. The a.s.s and the devil were favorite characters. The former sometimes appeared in monkish garb and brayed responses to the intonations of the priests, while the latter, arrayed in fantastic costumes, seems to have been the prototype of clown in the pantomime. As late as 1783 the buffoonery of this kind of exhibition continued. An English traveller, describing a mystery called the "Creation" which he saw at Bamberg in that year, says:--

"Young priests had the wings of geese tied on their shoulders to personate angels. Adam appeared on the scene in a big curled wig and brocaded morning-gown. Among the animals that pa.s.sed before him to receive their names were a well-shod horse, pigs with rings in their noses, and a mastiff with a bra.s.s collar. A cow's rib-bone had been provided for the formation of Eve; but the mastiff spied it out, grabbed it, and carried it off. The angels tried to whistle him back; but not succeeding, they chased him, gave him a kicking, and recovered the bone, which they placed under a trap-door by the side of the sleeping Adam, whence there soon emerged a lanky priest in a loose robe, to personate Eve."

The buffoonery and profanity of the early exhibitions, however, gradually wore away when the Church a.s.sumed the monopoly of them and forbade secular performances. Among the earlier works Burney cites the following:--

"The 'Conversion of St. Paul,' performed at Rome, 1440, as described by Sulpicius, has been erroneously called the first opera, or musical drama. 'Abram et Isaac suo Figliuolo,' a sacred drama (_azione sacra_), 'showing how Abraham was commanded by G.o.d to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountain,' was performed in the Church of St. Mary Magdalen in Florence, 1449. Another on the same subject, called 'Abraham and Sarah,' 'containing the good life of their son Isaac, and the bad conduct of Ishmael, the son of his handmaid, and how they were turned out of the house,' was printed in 1556; 'Abel e Caino,' and 'Samson,'

1554; 'The Prodigal Son,' 1565; and 'La Commedia Spirituale dell'

Anima' ('The Spiritual Comedy of the Soul'), printed at Siena, without date, in which there are near thirty personifications, besides Saint Paul, Saint John Chrysostom, two little boys who repeat a kind of prelude, and the announcing angel, who always speaks the prologue in these old mysteries. He is called _l'angelo che nunzia_, and his figure is almost always given in a wooden cut on the t.i.tle-page of printed copies. Here, among the interlocutors, we have G.o.d the Father, Michael the archangel, a chorus of angels, the Human Soul with her guardian angel, memory, intellect, free-will, faith, hope, charity, reason, prudence, temperance, fort.i.tude, justice, mercy, poverty, patience, and humility; with hatred, infidelity, despair, sensuality, a chorus of demons, and the devil. None of these mysteries are totally without music, as there are choruses and _laudi_, or hymns, that are sung in them all, and sometimes there was playing on instruments between the acts. In a play written by Damiano and printed at Siena, 1519, according to Crescimbeni, at the beginning of every act there was an octave stanza, which was sung to the sound of the lyra viol by a personage called Orpheus, who was solely retained for that purpose; at other times a madrigal was sung between the acts, after the manner of a chorus."

It was not until the time when San Filippo Neri began his dramatization and performance of Biblical stories, such as "The Good Samaritan," "The Prodigal Son," and "Tobias and the Angels," accompanied with music written by his friend Giovanni Animuccia, that the term "Oratorio" came to be accepted as the distinctive t.i.tle of these sacred musical dramas.

His productions were very crudely and hastily arranged, his only purpose having been to render his service attractive. After his death, however, in 1595, his work was continued by Emilio del Cavaliere, a Roman composer, who produced the first real oratorio which had as yet appeared.

It was ent.i.tled "La Rappresentazione dell' Anima e del Corpo" ("The Soul and the Body"), and was first performed in February, 1600, in the oratory of the Church of Santa Maria della Vallicella at Rome. Burney a.s.signs to it the credit of being "the first sacred drama or oratorio in which recitative was used." The characters were Time, Human Life, the World, Pleasure, the Intellect, the Soul, the Body, and two youths who were to recite the prologue. The orchestra was composed of a double lyre, a harpsichord, a large or double guitar, and two flutes. The composer has left some curious instructions for the performance of his work; among them the following:--

"Pleasure, an imaginary character, with two companions, are to have instruments in their hands, on which they are to play while they sing and perform the ritornels.

"Il Corpo, the Body, when these words are uttered, 'Si che hormai alma mia,' etc., may throw away some of his ornaments, as his gold collar, feather from his hat, etc.

"The World, and Human Life in particular, are to be gayly and richly dressed; and when they are divested of their trappings, to appear very poor and wretched, and at length dead carcases."

The ballet played a prominent part in all the early oratorios, and the composer has also left detailed instructions for its guidance. During the ritornels the four princ.i.p.al dancers accompanied them in "a ballet enlivened with capers," and at the close of the performance stanzas were sung, alternating with dances to be executed "sedately and reverentially."

Emilio del Cavaliere was followed by a long line of Italian oratorio composers who contributed to amplify and enrich this form of composition.

Among the earliest of these writers were Carissimi, Stradella, Scarlatti, Mazzocchi, Federici, Pistocchi, Caldara, and Colonna. Carissimi perfected the recitative and invested the music with more importance, giving it something like equal rank with the dramatic character of the composition.

It was during his time that the personage known as "Historicus" was introduced, who continued the action with explanatory pa.s.sages between the numbers,--a modern ill.u.s.tration of which may be found in the "Narrator," as used by Gounod in his "Redemption." Carissimi employed this expedient, and made it very effective. It is also claimed that he was the first to introduce the cantata as a form of church music, and the accompaniment of violins in motet performances. His most famous oratorios are "Jephte," "Abraham et Isaac," "Le Jugement Dernier," and "Judicium Salomonis." Of the first named, Hawkins says: "It consists of recitative, airs, and chorus; and for sweetness of melody, artful modulation, and original harmony, is justly esteemed one of the finest efforts of musical skill and genius that the world knows of." Stradella, whose romantic history is familiar to every one, is chiefly remembered by his attachment for Hortensia, the vengeance of the Venetian lover which followed them so long, and the song which saved the composer's life from the a.s.sa.s.sins.

This song was from his own oratorio, "St. John the Baptist," first performed in the Church of St. John Lateran at Rome. Burney, who examined the score, says: "The recitative is in general excellent, and there is scarce a movement among the airs in which genius, skill, and study do not appear." He also observes that this oratorio is the first work in which the proper sharps and flats are generally placed at the clef. Scarlatti, born in 1659, was a composer of great originality, as well as versatility. He has left, in addition to his numerous operas and cantatas, several oratorios, the most famous of which are "I Dolori di Maria sempre Vergine," "Il Sagrifizio d' Abramo," "Il Martirio di Santa Teodosia," and "La Concezzione della beata Vergine." He gave to the oratorio more breadth, boldness, and dignity of style, improved the form of the aria, made the accompanied recitative more dramatic, and developed the treatment of several instruments, among them the trumpet, whose real beauty and effect he was the first to bring out. Mazzocchi is chiefly known by his oratorio, "Querimonia," produced in Rome in 1631, which is said to have drawn tears from all who heard it. Federici wrote two oratorios, "Santa Cristina," and "Santa Caterina de Sienna," in both of which "interst.i.tial" accompaniment is used for the first time; that is, the violins, instead of accompanying the voice, repeat portions of the melody in short symphonies. Pistocchi was one of the most prominent stage-singers of his time, and established a school of singing at Bologna. His most famous oratorio is ent.i.tled "Maria Vergine addolerata,"

and is without overture or chorus. Burney notes that in the close of this work degrees of diminution of sound, such as "piano," "piu piano," and "pianissimo," are used for the first time. Caldara wrote a large number of oratorios, mostly adapted to the poetry of Zeno and Metastasio, which are said to have been delightful productions. Colonna, who was a contemporary of Stradella, but not so famous, has left one oratorio, "St.

Basil," which is highly praised. Bononcini also, who afterwards became a rival of Handel in England, wrote several oratorios before he went to that country, the best of which is ent.i.tled "San Girolamo della Carita."

The conclusion of this period brings us to the second stage in the evolution of the oratorio; namely, the pa.s.sion-music, which may be regarded as the connecting link between the earlier form as developed by the Italian composers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the oratorio as it appeared after it had felt the mighty influence of Handel.

The pa.s.sion-music was the direct outgrowth of the pa.s.sion-play. It portrayed the pa.s.sion of Christ. Its earliest forms are found in the "Pa.s.sio secundum Matthaeum" by Stephani, a Nuremberg composer who flourished in the sixteenth century; in a hymn-book published in 1573 by Keuchental; and in Selenica's hymn-book, which appeared in 1587. Heinrich Schutz, however, was the first to establish the pa.s.sion-music in genuine oratorio form. He was born in 1585, and died in 1672. The pupil of an Italian master, the famous Gabrielli of Venice, he retained the Italian forms, but added to them his native German force and solidity. His most prominent work, "Die Auferstehung Christi," first performed at Dresden in 1623, where he was chapel-master to the Elector George I., is regarded as the foundation of the German oratorio. The pa.s.sion-music was usually a.s.signed to three priests, one of whom recited or intoned the part of Jesus, the second that of the evangelist, and the third the other parts, while the chorus served for the "turbae," or people. In Schutz's music, however, the narrative is given to a chorus of evangelists, the accompaniment being performed by four viole di gamba and organ. There is also a wide departure from all his predecessors in the entire absence of dramatic action. His first work was followed by another, ent.i.tled "Die sieben Worte Christi" ("The Seven Words of Christ"),--a subject which Haydn subsequently treated with powerful effect,--and four different compositions on the pa.s.sion of our Lord. In these works are to be found the real germs of the modern oratorio; they were preparing the way for Handel and Bach. Johann Sebastiani succeeded Schutz, and in 1672 published a pa.s.sion-music, in which the narrative appears in recitative form and solidly harmonized chorales are used,--with this peculiarity, that only the treble was sung, the other voices being taken by the strings. In 1673 still another pa.s.sion, written by Theile, was produced at Lubeck. From this time until 1704 there appears to be a gap in the sequence of works of this kind.

In the latter year, however, two more were produced, which made a sensation all over Germany, "The Bleeding and Dying Jesus," by Reinhard Keiser, and the "Pa.s.sion nach Cap. 19 S. Johannis" by Handel. In the former, cantatas were subst.i.tuted for the narrative and chorales, one of the numbers being in the nature of a love-song,--an innovation upon the established forms which brought down upon the composer the indignation of the critics both in the pulpit and out of it. The pa.s.sion-music of Handel was but a weak prelude to the colossal works which were to follow from his pen. Between 1705 and 1718 several other pa.s.sions appeared, written by Keiser, Handel, Telemann, and Mattheson, preparing the way for the two composers who above all others were destined to develop the chorale and make it not only the foundation, but the all-pervading idea of their pa.s.sions; they were Carl Heinrich Graun and Johann Sebastian Bach. The former's greatest work, "Der Tod Jesu," was produced in Berlin in 1755, and was a revelation in the matter of chorale treatment. Nothing which had preceded it could equal it in musical skill or artistic handling. But there was one coming greater than Graun, the father of modern music, Johann Sebastian Bach. "If all the music written since Bach's time should be lost," says Gounod, "it could be reconstructed on the foundations which he laid." Besides his "Christmas Oratorio," Bach wrote five pa.s.sion oratorios, two of which, the "St. John" and "St. Matthew," have been published and are still performed. Of these two, the "St. Matthew" was conceived on the grander scale. In this sublime masterpiece, the early oratorio reached its highest form in Germany. It contains a narration delivered by an evangelist, solo parts for the princ.i.p.al characters, arias, choruses, double choruses, and chorales, the congregation joining in the latter, in which the composer not only reveals an astonishing dramatic power in the expression of sentiment and the adaptation of his music to the feeling and situation of the characters, but also a depth and accuracy of musical skill and invention which have been the despair of composers from that time to this.

With Bach, the pa.s.sion-music accomplished its purpose, and we now enter upon the third and last stage of the evolution of oratorio. It is a new form, and the change leads us to a new country. We have examined the sacred dramas, with their musical setting, in Italy, and the pa.s.sion-music in Germany; and now comes the oratorio in England,--the oratorio as we know it and hear it to-day. Handel was its great originator. He began his English career as an operatic writer; but he soon tired of setting music to the trivial subjects so common in opera, which, as he himself declared, were not suited to a composer advancing in years. There were other inducements, however, which led him to turn to the oratorio, and among them one of the most powerful unquestionably was his disgust with the cabals which were organized against him by Italian rivals. "Esther" was his first English oratorio, and it made a great success. It was followed by "Deborah" and "Athalia." His vigorous dramatic power and close musical scholarship were never more apparent than in these works. They aroused such an enthusiasm that from this time forth (1737) he devoted himself exclusively to this species of composition. He wrote in all seventeen English oratorios. In 1739 he produced "Saul," one of the most dramatic of his sacred works, and the colossal "Israel in Egypt." In 1741 he began "The Messiah," the most sublime of all his oratorios and one of the profoundest works of human genius in music. It still holds its place upon the stage as one of the grandest expressions of human aspiration and divine truth, and no Christmas is complete without its performance. Other works followed it, among them "Samson," "Joseph," "Belshazzar," "Judas Maccabaeus," "Joshua,"

and "Theodora," which Handel considered his best work; but none of them equalled "The Messiah," in which his genius reached its climax. Of those last named, only "Samson" and "Judas Maccabaeus" still hold their place in the modern repertory, though the other oratorios mentioned contain many of his most effective numbers.

While Handel was writing in England, the oratorio languished in Germany.

Ha.s.se, Porpora, and f.u.x produced several oratorios, but they have not left an impression upon the world. Handel died in 1759. It was not until 1798 that a successor appeared worthy to wear his mantle. That successor was Joseph Haydn, whose greatest work, "The Creation," rivals "The Messiah" in its popularity. He was in his seventieth year when he produced it, as well as his delightful work, "The Seasons;" but "Papa"

Haydn, as his countrymen love to call him, preserved the freshness of youth to the very last. The melodies of his old age are as delicious as those of his youth. Both these oratorios are exquisite pictures of nature, as well as of human and divine love. They were inspired by Handel's oratorios (which he heard for the first time when he visited London in 1791), and when first performed aroused as great enthusiasm, though they are not cast in the same heroic mould as are "The Messiah"

and "Israel in Egypt." They are characterized rather by grace, sweetness, and elegance of form, and by pure, healthy music. Haydn was a master of instrumentation, as he had shown years before in the string quartet, of which he was the creator, and in his almost innumerable symphonies,--he being the originator of the modern symphony. He had had the advantage of a magnificent orchestra while in service at Prince Esterhazy's, and the results are seen in the orchestral resources which he employs in his oratorios. During this period several Italian oratorios by Salieri, Zingarelli, and Cimarosa appeared, as well as oratorios in the same style by the German composers Himmel and Winter. In 1803 Beethoven wrote his only oratorio, "Christ on the Mount of Olives." This production has not attained to the popularity of his instrumental works or of his single opera, "Fidelio," in part because it is not in pure oratorio form, and in part because of its wretched libretto. Schubert, contemporary with Beethoven, also undertook an oratorio on the subject of "Lazarus;" but it was never completed, and the fragment even was not heard until 1863.

The first really successful oratorio of the present century was "Das jungste Gericht" ("The Last Judgment"), by Spohr, which was produced under his own supervision at Erfurt in 1812. This oratorio, however, the work of his earlier years, was but the prelude to his masterpiece, "Die letzten Dinge" ("The Last Things"), which is now commonly known as "The Last Judgment," and was first performed at Ca.s.sel in 1826. Nine years later he brought out "Des Heiland's letzte Stunden" ("The Saviour's Last Hours," now known as "Calvary"), and still later, "The Fall of Babylon,"

which he produced for the first time in England in 1843; but neither of these are constructed upon the grand proportions which characterize "Die letzten Dinge," or so well ill.u.s.trate the profound musical knowledge of the great violinist. Contemporary with Spohr was Schneider, an unusually prolific writer, who produced no less than sixteen oratorios in a period of twenty-eight years, in addition to a large number of operas. Though his oratorios were very popular at the time, but one of them has survived, the "Weltgericht," written in 1819. Among other contemporaries were Lindpaintner, whose "Abraham" was very successful,--though this composer is now remembered only by his orchestral pieces,--and Klein, who brought out two oratorios, "Jephthah" (1828) and "David" (1830), which were greatly admired, though they are now almost unknown.

Spohr had easily held his place in the first rank of the oratorio composers of his time, but was eclipsed when Mendelssohn appeared, as were all his contemporaries. This gifted composer had studied Handel and Bach very closely. In 1829 he brought out the latter's "St. Matthew"

pa.s.sion-music after it had lain concealed for an entire century. He aroused enthusiasm for the two old masters both in Germany and England.

His "St. Paul," first produced at Dusseldorf in 1836, was greeted with acclamations of enthusiasm, and still holds its place in the popular regard. Ten years later his greatest work, "Elijah," was performed in England. Though widely different in form and treatment from "The Messiah," it shares equally with that work in the enjoyment of popular favor. Its numbers are almost as familiar as household words, through constant repet.i.tion not only upon the oratorio stage, but in the concert-room and choir-loft. In the presentation of the personalities concerned in the progress of the work, in descriptive power, in the portrayal of emotion and pa.s.sion, and in genuine lyrical force, "Elijah"

has many of the attributes of opera, and some critics have not hesitated to call it a sacred opera. Indeed, there can be no question that with costume, scenery, and the aids of general stage-setting, its effect would be greatly enhanced. Mendelssohn began still a third oratorio, "Christus," but did not live to complete it. His "Lobgesang" ("Hymn of Praise"), a symphony-cantata, is usually given as an oratorio, though it is not in the genuine oratorio form. Contemporary with him and since his death numerous oratorios have been written, more or less inspired by his work; but "Elijah" and "St. Paul" still remain unsurpa.s.sed. Robert Schumann gave the world a delightful oratorio with a secular subject, "Paradise and the Peri." Numerous English composers have produced meritorious works, among them Sterndale Bennett, whose "Woman of Samaria"

is thoroughly devotional. In Germany, Hiller, Rheinthaler, and others have made successful essays in this form of musical art. In France, Ma.s.senet and Saint-Saens have written short one-part oratorios, and Gounod has constructed two, "The Redemption" and "Mors et Vita," upon the old cla.s.sical form, so far as division is concerned, and is now at work upon a third, of which Joan of Arc is the theme. In "The Tower of Babel"

and "Paradise Lost," Rubinstein has given us works which are certainly larger in design than the cantata, and are ent.i.tled to be called oratorios. In our own country, Professor Paine, of Harvard University, has written one oratorio, "St. Peter," which commands attention for its scholarly work and musical treatment. Mendelssohn and Spohr, however, represent the nineteenth century of oratorio as Haydn, Handel, and Bach did the eighteenth. Who will take the next step forward in the twentieth, and give to this n.o.blest form of musical art still higher expression?