Baltimore Opera Company

Study Guide

Nabucco

The Bible In Opera

The world of opera is actually quite rich in stories with biblical connections; some are outright stories taken literally from Holy Writ, some are only influenced by sacred sources, and some, often the most fun, are totally apocryphal, and no, that is not a reference to the eponymous Biblical addendum! Also, the exotic locations referred to in the Bible - the Fertile Crescent, The Holy Land, Nineveh , Babylon , Egypt – have also inspired composers and librettists to exploit this treasure trove of imagery, parable and history. And don't forget – When Cecil B. DeMille was asked why he favored biblical epics he responded – “Why waste 5,000 years of publicity?”.

In actuality the early years of the form we have come to know as opera were dominated by biblically inspired stories, and we have to begin by taking a look at the ever-entwined history of opera and its almost twin-sister art, the oratorio. The history of opera is very much tied into the history of the oratorio, and Music, habituating in a world aesthetic rather than finite, is often hard put to apply hard and fast definitions to the various appendages in its frame. Certainly, there are few instances in musical characterization in which there are not a plethora of interpretations and "absolutes".

Let's explore the history of both, and begin with the concise opening sentences of the entries in Groves Dictionary of Music .

Opera. "The generic term for musical dramatic works in which the actors sing some or all of their parts. Opera is a union of music, drama, and spectacle; these have been combined in different ways and degrees in different countries and historical periods, though normally with music playing a dominant role."

Oratorio. "An extended musical setting of a sacred text made up of dramatic, narrative, and contemplative elements. Except for a greater emphasis on the chorus throughout much of its history, the musical forms and styles of the oratorio tend to approximate to those of opera in any given period, and the normal manner of performance is that of a concert (without scenery, costumes, or action)."

The Western World, in the first millennium after the birth of Christ, was primarily interested in religious contemplation and asceticism. One can only assume that this repressive stoicism found artistic flowering in the evolvement of the dramatized and musical versions of the high drama of Holy Writ. People were educated not only through stained glass and frescoes, but through the Miracle and Mystery Plays of the Medieval period, in which actors dramatized the Holy stories. It was inevitable that these would soon include musical embellishment, first instrumental and then vocal. These stage productions, known in Italian as rappresentazioni sacre , were wildly popular. The laity, who were particularly drawn to these dramas, must have found some relief from their extremely repressed lives by vicariously living the lives of the Saints, many of whom had lives full of scandal and licentiousness (prior to their conversion, of course!)

The Renaissance, begun in Florence by a group of noblemen called the Camerata, wishing to emulate the aesthetic glories of the ancients, as a matter of course elevated all the existing arts in the course of their endeavor. St. Philip Neri, responding to the exhortations of the Council of Trent, began in the mid 1550's to have informal meetings in which the participants discussed religious doctrine and sang laude, which were extended, highly dramatic religious songs or madrigals. As his meetings grew in popularity, a larger room was necessary to contain the worshippers. Therefore, a room was built above the nave of the church, and called the "oratorium", "or "place of prayer." It is from that architectural term that we have provenanced the term "oratorio."

This style was also being developed by the less religious of the aesthetes, who saw art as a means of glorifying Mankind, and not necessarily God. They took the dramatic form that came out of the Miracle plays and the rappresentazione sacre and utilized them to depict the ancient mythic stories, such as the popular story of the Lyre-player Orpheus and his beloved Euridice. These early operas were mostly called favole , or fables, presumably to distinguish them from the infallibly correct tales from Scripture. Other Italians cities, notably Mantua, Bologna and later the more ecclesiastical Rome, found these new operas, written in what was called the stile rappresentativo , or "representative style", increasingly popular among the aristocracy and intelligentsia. Composers who were seminal in the creation and development of these stage works include Jacopi Peri, Stefano Landi, and Claudio Monteverdi, and Giacomo Carissimi, whose Jepthe, written circa 1650 , is a masterpiece of the genre.

Opera/oratorio continued in this vein for the next 200 years, particularly in Italy and in England , where Handel reigned supreme. This is just a selection of titles from his oeuvre – Esther , Deborah , Saul , Israel in Egypt , Samson , Belshazzar , Judas Maccabaeus , Joshua , Susanna , Solomon – which contains that very famous staple of classical music radio stations – the Entrance of the Queen of Sheba, and Theodora, his own version of Jephte .

We now come to the modern period of opera, roughly considered to be the last two centuries. It was left to the Romantic composers and those following to transpose biblical melodrama to the operatic stage and to musically ignite the secular passions that became so vividly mingled with sacred themes.

While the penchant for biblical theme was more pronounced after 1850, a few of the bel canto composers were so inspired, with the greatest example being Rossini with his 1817 work Mosé In Egitto , where, true to operatic form in which the ladies always have the best parts, takes the liberty of making Moses' niece the pivotal character in the conflict between Moses and Pharaoh.

In spite of the sanctified nature of Holy Writ it is apparent that the most popular biblical themes in opera are those centered on seduction, decadence and revenge! Certainly, Camille Saint-Saens' Samson et Dalila (1887) emphasizes the allure of Delilah and the sensuality of the Philistines. Richard Strauss' Salome (1905), based on Oscar Wilde's play, is an erotically obsessive version of the story of St. John the Baptist. Jules Massenet gives a French twist to the Salome story in his Hérodiade , based not on Oscar Wilde's retelling of the story, but Gustave Flaubert's short story, primarily concerned with the horror of the mother-daughter conflict. It is a grand opera in 4 acts, and truly bends reality, with a love scene between John the Baptist and Salome which recalls the proposed relationship between Christ and Mary Magdalene described in Nikos Kazantzakis' 1955 novel The Last Temptation of Christ , later put into film version by Martin Scorsese.

The story of Solomon and The Queen of Sheba were inspiration for both Charles Gounod in his La Reine di Saba (1862) and Karl Goldmark in his Regina di Saba (1857) which both expand the encounter of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba to create stories of jealousy and vengeance.

French composers in the latter part of the 19 th century, certainly more than the Italians or Germans, were interested in Biblical themes, not because the French are any more pious than other nationalities, but undoubtedly because of the French love of exoticism. Claude Debussy, wrote his first opera, L'Enfant Prodigue , or The Prodigal Son , in 1884 when he was 22 years old, and for it he won the Grand Prix du Rome. The musical style is very much beholden to Gounod, but we are able to glean glimpses of his later Impressionism.

Today's composers pick and choose between the churchly and secular traditions, adding their individual stamp and interpretation. Benjamin Britten describes The Burning , Fiery Furnace (1966) and The Prodigal Son (1968) as "parables for church performance,” although they undoubtedly fit the operatic mold. One of his most charming operas is Noyes Fludde , composed in 1957. Other 20 th century operas include Le Roi David (1921) and Judith (1926) by Arthur Honegger, Esther de Carpentras (1938) and David (1954) by Darius Milhaud. David was written for the Jewish Festival of 1954. A number of his other works have Jewish themes, including the Poemes juifs , Service Sacre , and musical settings for Psalms.

One of the most complex of all operas, and in some circles considered the operatic musical masterpiece of the 20 th century is Moses und Aron (1954) by the dodecaphonist composer Arnold Schoenberg. This opera is rife with layers of meaning, typified in Act 1. When Aron praises God for hearing prayers and receiving offerings, Moses cautions that the purification of one's own thinking is the only reward to be expected from paying such tributes. The orgiastic scene with the golden calf has, in modern productions, absolutely pushed the envelope in terms of explicit sexuality onstage, which is certainly reflected in the angular, frenetic, atonal music. The opera ends as the Israelites are led by the Pillar of Fire. As Aron joins the people in their exodus, Moses feels defeated. By putting words and images to what cannot be expressed, Aron has falsified Moses' absolute perception of God. "O word, thou word that I lack!" he cries, sinking in despair, as the curtain falls.

American composers have also responded to Holy Writ, with the most notable example being Susannah , written in 1955 by Carlisle Floyd, who also wrote his own libretto. This story is of course taken from the story of Susanna and the Elders in the Apocrypha, and is something of an indictment of rigid Southern American fundamentalism.

There are actually several operas that are set in Biblical locations, if not specifically biblical.

Aida , one of the great choral operas, takes place in Egypt . Jules Massenet's Thais takes place in Thebes and Alexandria in the 4 th century CE, and is very much like the Salome story in that it pits a temptress against a holy man.

Amahl and the Night Visitors takes place in Judea , and is, even though a musical and holiday cliché, nevertheless very moving in its depiction of faith.

Any of the many operatic tellings of the Orfeo ed Euridice legend – the most notable one by Christof Willibald von Gluck – has a scene that takes place in the ultimate Biblical location – hell.

The Bible, rich in diversity of character and plot as the human encounters the divine, has always inspired musical genius, and through the holy gift of music, has then doubly inspired the soul in hope and aspiration.

-James Harp

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