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 principal 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 illustrated in its three principal 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 "Passion 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 space 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.

CONTENTS.

PAGE PREFACE 3 THE ORATORIO 9 BACH 31 Christmas Oratorio 33 The Saint Matthew Passion 39 The Magnificat in D 48 BEETHOVEN 51 The Mount of Olives 53 BENNETT 60 The Woman of Samaria 62 BERLIOZ 68 The Requiem 70 BRAHMS 78 The German Requiem 80 COSTA 82 Eli 84 DVORAK 90 The Stabat Mater 92 GOUNOD 96 The Redemption 98 Mors et Vita 106 HANDEL 114 Israel in Egypt 117 Saul 125 Samson 132 The Messiah 140 Judas Maccabaeus 149 The Dettingen Te Deum 155 HAYDN 159 The Creation 162 The Seasons 170 LISZT 177 Legend of the Holy Elizabeth 180 Christus 186 MACFARREN 191 St. John the Baptist 193 MACKENZIE 198 The Rose of Sharon 199 MENDELSSOHN 206 St. Paul 208 Hymn of Praise 213 Elijah 218 Christus 229 MOZART 234 Requiem 236 PAINE 245 St. Peter 246 ROSSINI 251 Stabat Mater 253 RUBINSTEIN 258 Tower of Babel 260 Paradise Lost 264 SAINT-SAENS 267 Christmas Oratorio 269 SCHUMANN 271 Paradise and the Peri 273 SPOHR 280 Last Judgment 283 SULLIVAN 290 The Prodigal Son 292 The Light of the World 294 VERDI 301 Manzoni Requiem 303 SACRED MUSIC IN AMERICA 309 APPENDIX 329

THE STANDARD ORATORIOS.

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 assigned 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 instituted 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, God, 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

The Standard Oratorios: Their Stories, Their Music, And Their Composers

PREFACE.✦

PREFACE.