The Standard Oratorios: Their Stories, Their Music, And Their ComposersUpton, George P. (George Putnam)
Religion
The Standard Oratorios: Their Stories, Their Music, And Their Composers
Upton, George P. (George Putnam)
Oratorio
After a brief adagio prelude, the second part, "Summer," opens with a
charming aria by Simon ("From out the Fold the Shepherd drives"), which
gives us a delightful picture of the shepherd driving his flock along the
verdant hillside, then leaning upon his staff to watch the rising sun. As
it appears, it is welcomed by trio and chorus with the exultant shout,
"Hail, O glorious Sun!" As noon approaches, the music fairly becomes
radiant. A series of recitatives and arias follow, bringing out in a
vivid and picturesque manner the oppressive, exhaustive heat and the
longing for rest and shade, leading at last to an ominous silence as the
clouds begin to gather and the sky darkens. A short recitative prepares
the way. A crash of thunder is heard upon the drums: it is the prelude to
the storm-chorus ("Hark! the deep tremendous Voice"), which has been the
model for nearly all the storm-descriptions written since Haydn's time.
It is worked up to a tremendous climax of tumult and terror, of pouring
rain, flashing lightning, and pealing thunder. At last the tempest dies
away, and in the trio and chorus, "Now cease the Conflicts," night comes
on, with its song of the quail,--which Beethoven subsequently utilized in
his Pastoral Symphony,--the chirp of the crickets, the croaking of the
frogs, the distant chime of the evening bells, and the invocation to
sleep. Of the frog episode, Nohl says:--
"He particularly disliked the croaking of the frogs, and realized how
much it lowered his art. Swieten showed him an old piece of Gretry's in
which the croak was imitated with striking effect. Haydn contended that
it would be better if the entire croak were omitted, though he yielded
to Swieten's importunities. He declared afterwards, however, that the
frog passage was not his own. 'It was urged upon me,' he said, 'to
write this French croak. In the orchestral setting it is very brief,
and it cannot be done on the piano. I trust the critics will not treat
me with severity for it. I am an old man, and liable to make
mistakes.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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