Oratorio de Noël

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Camille Saint-Saëns , 1858

The Oratorio de Noël (German: " Christmas Oratorio ") is a work composed in 1858 by the then 23-year-old French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921). It bears the opus number 12 and has also been performed frequently in the German-speaking area for several years.

Emergence

From 1858, Camille Saint-Saëns worked as organist at the La Madeleine church in Paris, a position he would hold for almost 20 years. Up to this point he was already u. a. emerged as the composer of three symphonies (only one numbered: A major, approx. 1850 / No. 1 op. 2 E flat major, 1853 / Urbs Roma , 1856) and a mass (1857). In Advent 1858 he composed his Oratorio de Noël Op. 12 within 12 days . The composition was completed on December 15, 1858 and was premiered on December 25, 1858 in the Madeleine. It is dedicated to his pupil Madame de Vicomtesse de Grandval.

Cast and duration of performance

The work provides for a line-up of 5 vocal soloists ( soprano , mezzo-soprano , alto , tenor and baritone ), four-part mixed choir, string orchestra, harp and organ . Wind instruments are missing.

The duration of the work, which is comparatively short for an oratorio , is around 35 to 40 minutes.

Content and sequence of sentences

Petits Chanteurs de Passy - Tollite Hostias

The Catholic Saint-Saëns compiled texts from the Vulgate and the Latin Christmas liturgy for his 10-part Oratorio de Noël . The proclamation of the birth of Christ , taken from the Gospel of Luke , is followed by psalm texts and verses taken from the Gospels according to Matthew and John . With a few exceptions, the composition has a lyrical, contemplative mood.

  • No. 1 Prelude (dans le style de Seb.Bach) . Instrumental prelude, which in its structure as a swaying, siciliano- like pastoral (in 12/8 time) refers to baroque models, but without depicting an actual style copy of Johann Sebastian Bach .
  • No. 2 Récit et Chœur “Et pastores erant / Gloria in altissimis Deo” . The angel's message is entrusted to a quartet of soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone), the following Gloria to the choir, whereby the initially simple movement becomes more complex through fugues .
  • No. 3 Air “Expectans, expectavi Dominum” . Mezzo-soprano aria.
  • No. 4 Air et Chœur “Domine, ego credidi / Qui in hunc mundum venisti” . The tenor's aria alternates with the divided women's choir.
  • No. 5 Duo "Benedictus, qui venit in nomine Domini" . Duet for soprano and baritone, the harp appears for the first time in the introduction.
  • No. 6 Chœur “Quare Fremduerunt gentes” . A short dramatic episode of the choir (“Why do the heathens rage”) quickly turns into a solemn, calm invocation of the Trinity .
  • No. 7 Trio "Tecum principium" . Trio (soprano, tenor and baritone solo), accompanied by figurations of the harp.
  • No. 8 Quatuor "Alleluia" . Soloist quartet (soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, baritone).
  • No. 9 Quintette et Chœur “Consurge, Filia Sion” . The orchestra picks up the pastoral melody of the first part, to which first the solo quintet and then the choir join.
  • No. 10 Chœur “Tollite hostias” . A short homophonic final chorus brings the work to a festive end.

The work, which is frequently performed in France, has also found its way into the Christmas choral repertoire in the German-speaking area for several years and is available on several CD recordings (a CD review from 2010 lists seven recordings).

literature

  • Howard E. Smither: A History of the Oratorio. Vol. 4: The Oratorio in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries , Univ. Of North Carolina Pr., 2000, ISBN 978-0-8078-2511-2 , pp. 566ff.
  • George P. Upton: Standard Oratorios , The Echo Library, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4068-5458-9 , p. 140
  • Alfred Beaujean: CD supplement to Capriccio LC 8748 (Saint-Saëns: Oratorio de Noël , Mendelssohn: Vom Himmel hoch ; Dresdner Philharmonie, Dresdner Kreuzchor, Martin Flämig. 1987)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Blümke, RONDO edition 6/2010