"God Save the King"
March 20, 2010
PROGRAM NOTES
George Frideric Handel
Zadok the Priest (Coronation Anthem No. I), HWV 258
Georg Friedrich Händel was born in Halle, Germany on February 23, 1685 and, having adopted the English spelling, died George Frideric Handel in London on April 14, 1759. He composed the coronation anthem Zadok the Priest for the coronation of George II and Queen Caroline in Westminster Abbey on October 11, 1727. In addition to the chorus and vocal solos, the score calls for two oboes, two bassoons, three trumpets, timpani, and strings with continuo. Duration is about 6 minutes.
Handel had, very conveniently, become an English citizen not long before the coronation of George II, the son of the German king, George I who, before his elevation to the English throne, had been Elector of Hannover and Handel’s patron. The fact that he was now considered English and that his music had always pleased the royal family made him the obvious candidate for the composition of the official music for the coronation ceremony. Handel knew that in a circumstance such as this, ritual was more important than musical refinement, and he composed a splendid piece of ceremonial music so striking that it has remained part of the English coronation ceremony over since.
Zadok the Priest, and Nathan, the Prophet, annointed Solomon King.
And all the people rejoic’d, and said:
God save the King, long live the King, may the King live forever!
Amen, Alleluia!
--after I Kings I:39-40
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
Excerpts from Judas Maccabaeus
Handel composed Judas Maccabaeus between July 8 and August 11, 1746 to a libretto by Thomas Morell based on I. Maccabees and Josephus’s Antiquities. The frst performance took place at the Covent Garden Theatre under Handel’s direction on April 1, 1747. The orchestra for Judas Maccabaeus calls for flutes, oboes, bassoons, and horns in pairs, three trumpets, timpani, organ, harpsichord, and strings.
Most of the two dozen or so works to which we give the term “oratorio” were dramatic works, conceived almost as if they were operas, but specifically designed not to be put on the stage. Theater performances had to stop during Lent in Handel’s time, and he found that the composition and presentation of dramatic works, drawn from Biblical sources and presented without staging, could get around the ban and allow him to keep his singers and instrumentalists employed. In the process he invented a new form and created something quite unique.
Most of the oratorio plots were drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures, which were thoroughly familiar to the church-going audiences of the day. They dealt in some way or another with the establishment or safe-keeping of the Israelites and thus could be seen as analogous to contemporary political issues in the current political situation of England—the role of the king and the proper organization of the state. With regards to Judas Maccabaeus, the immediacy of the plot was heightened by the fact that the oratorio was conceived after the vain attempt by the Scots to win their independence from England, which was scuttled in the crucial battle of Culloden in 1745.
The selection to be performed includes two heroic passages from the first two acts and an extended passage from the final act of the oratorio. “See the conquering hero comes” celebrates Judas Maccabaeus as he returns victorious from battle, having saved the people. The tune of the first part has been adapted into a well-known hymn. Then, following the March (representing the returning triumphant army), the chorus offers “Sing unto God,” which celebrates the victory with tremendous vitality. Word that Rome will undertake the future protection of the country gives rise to the closing celebration.
ACT I
SIMON (Recitative)
I feel, I feel the Deity within
Who, the bright Cherubim between,
His radiant glory erst displayed;
To Israel’s distressful prayer
He has vouchsafed a gracious ear,
And points out Maccabeus to their aid.
Judas shall set the captive free,
And lead us on to victory.
(Aria, with chorus)
Arm, arm, ye brave! A noble cause,
The cause of Heaven, your zeal demands.
In defence of your nation, religion, and laws,
The almighty Jehovah will strengthen your hands.
CHORUS
We come, we come in bright array,
Judah, thy scepter to obey.
ACT II
JUDAS (Aria with chorus)
Sound an alarm! Your silver trumpets sound,
And call the brave, and only brave, around.
Who listeth follow: —to the field again!
Justice with courage is a thousand men.
CHORUS
We hear, we hear the pleasing dreadful call,
And follow thee to conquest; if to fall,
For laws, religion, liberty we fall.
ACT III
CHORUS OF YOUTHS
See, the conquering hero comes!
Sound the trumpets, beat the drums!
Sports prepare, the laurel bring,
Songs of triumph to him sing.
CHORUS OF VIRGINS
See the godlike youth advance!
Breathe the flutes, and lead the dance;
Myrtle wreaths, and roses twine,
To deck the hero’s brow divine.
FULL CHORUS
See, the conquering hero comes, etc.
MARCH
DUET AND CHORUS
Sing unto God, and high affections raise
To crown this conquest with unmeasured praise.
EUPOLEMUS
Peace to my countrymen; peace and liberty.
From the great senate of imperial Rome,
With a firm league of amity, I come.
Rome, whatever nation dare insult us more,
Will rouse in our defense her veteran power,
And stretch her vengeful arm, by land or sea,
To curb the proud and set the injured free.
CHORUS
To our great God be all the honor given
That grateful hearts can send from earth to Heaven.
SIMON AND CHORUS
Rejoice, oh Judah! And in songs divine,
With Cherubim and Seraphim harmonious join.
Hallelujah!
Amen!
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN
Symphony No. 101 in D major, The Clock
Franz Joseph Haydn was born at Rohrau, Lower Austria, on March 31, 1732 and died in Vienna on May 31, 1809. The Symphony No. 101, called the Clock, is one of the last set of symphonies that Haydn wrote for the impresario Salomon in London. He composed the work in 1793 and early 1794, probably beginning it in Vienna and completing at after his arrival in London, where he conducted the first performance on March 3, 1794. The symphony is scored for flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, and trumpets in pairs, timpani, and strings. Duration is about 29 minutes.
Haydn made two extended trips to London in the 1790s which were successful in both financial and musical terms. He composed his last dozen symphonies for London audiences, who recognized at once the unfailing prodigality of Haydn’s invention in treating the genre of the symphony. In all of his last dozen symphonies, Haydn took simple musical ideas, immediately accessible to virtually anyone, and used them to create symphonic structures that combined architectural strength with unsurpassed musical wit. He began the symphony nicknamed “The Clock” while still in Vienna in 1793, finishing it after his arrival in London early the following year. The symphony was first heard on a concert given by the impresario Salomon on March 3, 1794, where it attained an immediate and lasting success.
A portentous slow introduction in D minor begins with a slow upward scale pattern that hints at the main theme of the Presto. The harmonic clouds vanish at the beginning of the Presto, a cheerful, lolling theme in 6/8 time, a meter rarely found in a symphonic first movement, especially one of such considerable size. This quicksilver figure might seem too insubstantial to support so large a structure, but Haydn creates new figures out of old as it unfolds, providing both variety and unity.
The symphony’s nickname comes from the metronomic ticking of its second movement, which immediately became a popular favorite. The “clock’s” tick begins in the first measure and runs virtually throughout the rondo-like pattern of the movement. The most striking surprise comes after a dramatic outburst in the minor key when the main theme returns in the major, as at the beginning, but rescored, so that the ticking accompaniment (in flute and bassoon) surrounds the melody in the violin.
The Menuetto is Haydn’s longest and most elaborate, while the Trio is a witty evocation of a country band, in which the players are perhaps not entirely sure of their parts!
The last movement has some claim to be the finest of Haydn’s symphonic finales. So richly does Haydn develop his ideas from the opening theme that much of the movement grows out of the three assertive opening notes or the quick downward scale that immediately follows. After a varied restatement of the opening section, a fierce minor-key section includes new references to the opening material. It seems about to lead to a restatement, but Haydn instead offers a gossamer fugato on the opening subject. After it has run its hushed course, a vigorous conclusion of high energy and high spirits erupts.
FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY
Elijah, Opus 70
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg on February 3, 1809 and died in Leipzig on November 4, 1847. Mendelssohn planned an oratorio on the subject of Elijah as early as August 1836 and began to concern himself with a libretto, which was not completed at that time. A commission for a major choral work to be performed at the 1846 Birmingham Festival revived the project. Mendelssohn began composing the music late in 1845, finishing it shortly before the first performance in Birmingham, England, on August 26, 1846, which he conducted himself. Following that performance, he made extensive revisions before allowing publication. He led the first performance of the revised and definitive version in London on April 16, 1847. Elijah is scored for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists, solo octet, mixed chorus, and an orchestra consisting of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons in pairs, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba (replacing the obsolute ophicleide called for my Mendelssohn), timpani, organ, and strings.
Mendelssohn had just launched his oratorio St. Paul into the world on May 22, 1836, when he expressed a desire to follow it up with another work in the same genre, but of more dramatic character. On August 12 of that year he proposed to his lifelong friend Karl Klingemann (a cultivated literary man and member of the Hanoverian diplomatic legation in London) that Klingemann write him a libretto for another Biblical subject—perhaps an Elijah or a St. Peter.
The fact that Mendelssohn approached the friend who had written the libretto for his one-act operetta Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde, known in English as Son and Stranger rather than the pastor Julius Schubring (who had assembled the text for St. Paul), makes it clear that Mendelssohn was in search of a text that would be more dramatic than theological. In August 1837, he visited Klingemann in London and together they roughed out a plan for most of an Elijah, leaning heavily on I Kings 17-19 and II Kings 1-2. Unfortunately, Klingemann, who had been cool to the project from the beginning, lost interest completely.
At this point Mendelssohn finally let Schubring in on Elijah. The theologian wanted to change the character of the work. Mendelssohn insisted, “I am most anxious to do full justice to the dramatic element.” Schubring kept arguing that Mendelssohn’s approach would “turn away from Church music (i.e., music which refreshes, consoles).” Dissatisfied with the direction of the project, Mendelssohn simply put it aside.
There it might have remained for good, but for the fact that six years later the officials of the Birmingham Festival approached Mendelssohn with a commission for a new work to be performed under his direction at the 1846 festival. The official commission was dated August 26, 1845—one year to the day before the premiere. Mendelssohn turned to Schubring again, but limited his role in the work. The libretto was completed, and Mendelssohn began composing. As he worked, he also consulted with William Bartholomew, who provided the English translation in which the work would be premiered, though Mendelssohn himself spoke fluent English, and he frequently made his own suggestions for the English wording.
The premiere was sensationally successful; eight numbers were encored, including the entire first finale. The overwhelming success did not blind the composer to a number of flaws in the work, many of which were the result of compromises with Schubring and of the haste in putting together the second part of the piece. So before allowing further performances or publication, Mendelssohn undertook a complete overhaul.
Even so, there is no doubt that the oratorio changes character between Part I and Part II. The first half is overtly dramatic, even quasi-operatic, and devoid of the kind of narration that Mendelssohn didn’t want. It thus follows the Handelian pattern of dramatic oratorio and builds to its natural climax with Elijah confronting the priests of Baal and the miracle of the rain. The beginning and ending of Part I form the portions to be heard at tonight’s performance.
The very beginning, Elijah delivering God’s curse on the sinful Israelites, prophesying three years of drought, is original and powerful. The fugal overture suggests the passage of time and builds intensity to the choral outburst “Help, Lord!” Having set the stage with this description of the drought and the misery of the people, this performance cuts to the scene of Elijah’s contest with the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel. They have accepted Elijah’s challenge. Wood is prepared for a burnt offering on two altars. The priests will pray to Baal to send down fire; Elijah will pray to Jehovah. “And the god who by fire shall answer, let him be God.”
Baal’s priests begin rather smugly calling for fire from heaven but become increasingly agitated as Elijah mocks them, echoing the melody of their final, “Hear us!” with his, “Call him louder,” which is twisted harmonically by the woodwinds. Finally the priests are desperate that no answer is forthcoming. Elijah, in his turn, utters a lyric prayer and then asks but once for the fires to descend on the altar, which they do in a colorful orchestral blaze (appropriately marked “Allegro con fuoco”). The final scene of Part I is the summoning of the rain and the chorus of jubilation at the end of the drought.
For Victorians, Elijah was well-mannered, and not too extravagant. But the dramatic scenes, though unusual for Mendelssohn, reveal his technical mastery. The sheer “singability” of the vocal parts, the color of the orchestration, the effectively planned climaxes, and the variety of the whole—all these keep Elijah with us just as they did 150 years ago.
PART I
Introduction
ELIJAH
As God the Lord of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to my word. (IKINGS 17:1)
Overture
1. Chorus and Recitative
THE PEOPLE
Help, Lord! wilt Thou quite destroy us? The harvest now is over, the summer days are gone, and yet no power cometh to help us! Will then the Lord be no more God in Zion? (JEREMIAH 8:19,20)
CHORUS
The deep affords no water, and the rivers are exhausted! The suckling’s tongue cleaveth for thirst to his mouth; the infant children ask for bread, and there is no one breaketh it to feed them! (I KINGS 17:7; LAMENTATIONS 4:4)
11. Chorus
PRIESTS OF BAAL
Baal, we cry to thee; hear and answer us! Heed the sacrifice we offer! Baal, oh, hear us, and answer us! Hear us, Baal! Hear, mighty god! Baal, oh, answer us! Baal, let thy flames fall and extirpate the foe! Baal, oh, hear us!
12. Recitative and Chorus
ELIJAH
Call him louder, for he is a god! He talketh, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey; or, peradventure, he sleepeth; so awaken him: call him louder.
PRIESTS OF BAAL
Hear our cry, O Baal! Now arise! Wherefore slumber?
13. Recitative and Chorus
ELIJAH
Call him louder! He heareth not. With knives and lancets cut yourselves after your manner; leap upon the altar ye have made: call him and prophesy! Not a voice will answer you; none will listen, none heed you.
PRIESTS OF BAAL
Baal, hear and answer, Baal! Mark how the scorner derideth us! Hear and answer! (I KINGS 18:26-29)
14. Recitative and Aria
ELIJAH
Draw near, all ye people, come to me! Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, this day let it be known that Thou art God, and I am Thy servant! Oh, show to all this people that I have done these things according to Thy word! Oh, hear me, Lord, and answer me, and show this people that Thou art Lord God, and let their hearts again be turned! (I KINGS 18:30, 36, 37)
16. Recitative and Chorus
ELIJAH
O Thou, who makest Thine angels spirits; Thou, whose ministers are flaming fires, let them now descend! (PSALM 104:4)
THE PEOPLE
The fire descends fromheaven; the flames consume his offering! Before Him upon yourfaces fall! The Lord is God: O Israel, hear! Our God is one Lord; and we will have no other gods before the Lord (I KINGS 18:38,39: DEUTERONOMY 5:7, 6:4)
ELIJAH
Take all the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape you; bring them down to Kishon’s brook, and there let them be slain.
THE PEOPLE
Take all the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape us; bring all, and slay them! (I KINGS 18:40)
20. Chorus
THE PEOPLE
Thanks be to God! He laveth the thirsty land! Th waters gather, they rush along they are lifting their voices! The stormy billows are high, their fury is mighty. But the Lord is above them, and almighty!
(JEREMIAH 14:22, II CHRONICLES 6:19,26,27;DEUTERONOMY 28:23; PSALMS 28:1,106:1, 93:3-4;
I KINGS I8:43-45)
© Steven Ledbetter
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