The Standard Cantatas: Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers: A HandbookUpton, George P. (George Putnam)
History
The Standard Cantatas: Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers: A Handbook
Upton, George P. (George Putnam)
Cantatas -- History and criticism
The opening number is a chorus ("Daughter of mighty Jove, awake!"), which
is followed by a beautiful duet ("Faultless, yet hated"), voicing the
lament of two Greek slaves for the destruction of their temples and the
degradation of their land. The duet is very pathetic in character, and
the melody, carried by the two voices, leaves an impression of sadness
which cannot be resisted. The third number is the well-known chorus of
Dervishes sung in unison by tenors and basses, thus forming a kind of
choral chant. The melody is a weird one, and full of local color, but its
powerful effect is gained by the manner of treatment. It begins
pianissimo and is gradually worked to the extreme pitch of true Dervish
delirium, culminating in the exclamation, "Great Prophet, hail!" and then
gradually subsiding until it dies away, apparently from the exhaustion of
such fervor. It is followed by the familiar Turkish march, founded on the
theme of the Variations in D, op. 76, very simple in construction,
Oriental in its character throughout, and peculiarly picturesque in
effect. After an instrumental movement behind the scenes, a triumphal
march and chorus ("Twine ye a Garland") is introduced. The seventh number
is a recitative and aria by the high priest with chorus, which lead to a
beautifully melodious chorus ("Susceptible Hearts"). An adagio aria for
bass ("Deign, great Apollo") and a vigorous chorus ("Hail, our King")
bring the work to a close. The piece was first brought out in England by
Mendelssohn in 1844 at one of the Philharmonic Society's concerts; and
ten or twelve years later an English version of it was performed at the
Prince's Theatre, when the Royal Exchange and statue of Wellington were
substituted for the Pesth Theatre, and Shakspeare took the place of the
Emperor of Austria, concerning the good taste of which Macfarren pithily
says:--
"Modifications admirably adapted to the commercial character and the
blind vainglory that so eminently mark the British nation."
[11] Born in the year 977 at Gran, and known in Austrian and Hungarian
history as Saint Stephen.
The Glorious Moment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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