L'enfance you Christ

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L'enfance du Christ is an oratorio (original name: "Trilogie sacrée", op. 25) by Hector Berlioz , which deals with important events from the childhood of Christ and consists of the three parts Le songe d'Hérode (The Dream of Herod) , La fuite en Égypte (The Flight into Egypt) and L'arrivée à Sais (The Arrival in Sais) . Berlioz wrote the libretto based on the stories of the New Testament .

History of origin

The nucleus of the oratorio is the choir L'adieu des bergers from the second part of the piece: on a social evening that Berlioz spent with his friend, the architect Joseph-Louis Duc, in 1850, he asked him to record a piece of music without further ado. Berlioz designed a "four-part Andantino for organ " of a mystical, rural and naive character. This gave him the idea to underlay the music with an appropriate text. So he reworked the organ piece for the choir of the shepherds who bid farewell to the Holy Family in Bethlehem . In the days that followed, Berlioz wrote the sentence “The Rest of the Holy Family”, with which the shepherd's choir was integrated into an act. Then there was also an overture so that the flight to Egypt was completed. When Berlioz conducted a concert on November 12, 1850, he brought in the pastoral choir to fill the gaps, which he passed off as the work of Pierre Ducré, who had been conductor in Paris in the 17th century. On December 1, 1853, the entire Fuite en Égypte was performed in Leipzig. Due to the overwhelming success, Berlioz began to compose a sequel in December that deals with the arrival of the Holy Family in Sais. In the spring of 1854, in order to maintain the balance, the prehistory The Dream of Herod was added. The complete trilogy was born on December 10, 1854 to the premiere .

occupation

action

Le songe d'Hérode

Performance duration: approx. 45 minutes

The oratorio begins without an overture with a simple accompanying recitative by the narrator, who describes the situation in the country at the time around the birth of Christ: "At that time Jesus was born in the stable [...] and the powerful were trembling, the weak were hoping, and everything was waiting ... "

This is followed by a fugue symbolizing the march ( marche nocturne ) of a Roman patrol. The patrol meets the Roman Polydorus, who is assigned to guard the royal palace and tells of Herod's sleepless nights: "He dreams, he trembles, sees traitors everywhere [...] and he must be guarded from evening to morning"

After the soldiers have left the field, Herod himself has a say ( Air d'Hérode , Song of Herod) and sings about his dream: a child always appears to him, who throws him from the throne, threatens his life and fame. In his desire for “only one hour of peace” he even regrets the miserable lot of the king and wishes “to rather live with the shepherds in the darkness of the forest”.

Herod's self-pity is interrupted by Polydorus, who announces the fortune-tellers whom Herod has summoned. He describes his dream to them and asks them to interpret it. The fortune tellers “draw their cabalistic circles and begin the incantation”: they announce to the king that a child has been born who will overthrow him from his throne and rob him of his power. They recommend slaying all newborn children. Herod orders the killing of all newborns in Nazareth , Bethlehem and Jerusalem in a boundless selfish act : "Beauty, grace, old age cannot change my mind: my horror must come to an end".

This scene and the wild, hulking 7/4 dance of the fortune tellers offer a memorable contrast to the serene calm that the following scene exudes in the stable in Bethlehem : Mary and Joseph in a duet gently instruct the baby Jesus to feed the sheep. This family idyll is gently interrupted by the choir of angels who instruct the Holy Family to save their child from great danger and to flee to Egypt. At the request of the parents, the angels promise to remove all obstacles for the family on the way. Berlioz works impressively with sound effects: the choir is instructed to sing "behind the stage", which, in contrast to the singing of Joseph and Mary, makes it appear divine and divine. With an ethereal hosanna! The first part of the angel choir ends.

La fuite en Egypt

Performance duration: approx. 15 minutes

The second part begins with a delicately orchestrated overture in F sharp minor .

This is followed by the shepherd's choir “L'adieu des bergers à la Sainte Famille”, the nucleus of the entire oratorio: the shepherds say goodbye to the Holy Family. The chorus is divided into three stanzas: in the first, loving parents are wished for the child so that it can grow and prosper and “become a good father”. In the second stanza the shepherds express their wish that the child should return to their health and "should always carry the shepherd's poverty in the heart". In the last stanza, the shepherds wish the family good luck and blessings so that they never “have to endure the blows of injustice”.

In the last sentence, The Rest of the Holy Family , the narrator describes a rest that the family takes on the way to Egypt. With a gentle hallelujah! the second part ends in pianissimo .

The second part is characterized overall by the very economical instrumentation with a small orchestra without horns and bassoons and an extremely transparent and ethereal movement. Berlioz often uses church modes here .

L'arrivée à Sais

Performance duration: approx. 45 minutes

In the last part, the narrator first speaks again: he describes the arduous journey of the Holy Family from Bethlehem to Sais .

This is followed by a duet by Joseph and Mary who ask for admission at the doors of the houses, but are refused everywhere due to their Hebrew origins. The desperation of the family is illustrated by a sound that is unusual even for Berlioz: violas, plaintive oboes and cor anglais, as well as violin phrases, accompany the parents' attempts to find accommodation.

Eventually they are let in by an Ishmaelite whose door "is never closed to people in need". It turns out that the housefather has the same job as Joseph (carpenter) and invites him to work with him and let the child grow up in his home.

“To end the evening well” the Ismaelit begins to make music with his family: the following trio for flute and harp is one of the few chamber music pieces that Berlioz has ever written. Then Joseph and Mary go to bed with the good wishes of the Ishmaelites.

The epilogue is followed by a brief reflection on the story by the narrator: it was an unbeliever who had let the family in and thus "brought salvation to the Savior". So it was possible that after ten years the family could return to their homeland and Jesus could complete his work of salvation there.

The work ends with an ensemble of choir and narrator who urge humility in the face of this mystery:

Oh my soul, what is left for you to do
Except bow your pride to this mystery!
Oh my soul! Oh my heart, fill yourself with serious, pure love
because it alone can open the kingdom of heaven for you

Aftermath

Berlioz was often exposed to hostility from experts and the public; his critics, of whom there were far more than supporters, often criticized the supposed bizarre and dissonant sound of his music. L'enfance du Christ was immediately a great success and was highly praised by almost all Parisian music critics. Many believed they saw a radical change in Berlioz's work, a departure from his old style in favor of a new, friendlier one. Berlioz firmly rejected this:

“Nothing would be more unjustified than this view. The material naturally demands a naive, gentle setting and is therefore more accessible to their [the critic's] taste and intelligence. [...] I would have written the childhood of Christ twenty years ago exactly like that. "

The work has remained very popular to this day and is performed quite often, mostly around Christmas time.

TV version

Sources and Links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ L'enfance du Christ (TV Movie 1964) in the Internet Movie Database (English)