Belshazzar's Feast (Walton)
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Belshazzar's Feast is the title of an oratorio by the English composer William Walton. It was first performed at the Leeds Festival in 1931, and has remained one of the most popular works in the English choral repertoire. The text was arranged from Biblical sources by Osbert Sitwell.
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[edit] Synopsis
The story of Belshazzar's Feast is told in the Book of Daniel. The Jews are in exile in Babylon. After a feast at which Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, commits sacrilege by using the Jews' sacred vessels to praise the heathen gods, he is miraculously killed, the kingdom falls, and the Jews regain their freedom.
[edit] List of movements
Although they are not specified in the published score, there is a clear delineation between sections, as follows:
- Thus spake Isaiah
- If I forget thee
- Babylon was a great city
- In Babylon Belshazzar the King
- Praise ye the god of gold
- Thus in Babylon, the mighty city
- And in that same hour
- Then sing aloud to God our strength
- The trumpeters and pipers
- Then sing aloud to God our strength
[edit] Musical structure
The work is scored for very large orchestra (which includes a saxophone, optional organ, two brass bands and a large percussion section), chorus in eight parts, semichorus, and baritone soloist. The chorus represents the Jewish people throughout, although they adopt the tone of the Babylonians when telling the story of the feast.
It is in ten distinct sections, played continuously. After a brief, recited introduction, the chorus and baritone sing of their homeland Zion, in an emotional setting of Psalm 137 (By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down, and wept), and angrily express their bitterness toward their captors. The narrative then begins, and in a prolonged sequence we hear their horror, and then outrage, at the profanities of the king, followed by an exuberant march section depicting the king and his court praising their gods. The section is framed by a descending figure of four notes that, through repetition, passes down through the orchestra, immediately establishing a jazz influence with a flattened first note and marked syncopation.
This leads to an eerie, and economically orchestrated, depiction of the writing on the wall, and the death that night of Belshazzar. The people celebrate their freedom, in a joyous song of praise interrupted by a lament over the fall of a great city.
The music throughout is complex rhythmically, and richly orchestrated. The rhythms and harmonies reflect Walton’s interest in jazz and other popular music, pressed into service to tell a religious story.
[edit] History and commentary
Walton struggled with the setting for several years, and it grew from its original conception as a short work for small forces, as commissioned by the BBC, to its eventual form. Fortunately, this was an age of gifted amateur choruses, and conductors and institutions dedicated to bringing forward new music, and the Leeds Festival took on the first performance.
At first the work seemed avant-garde because of its extrovert writing and musical complexity, although it is always firmly tonal. The addition of the brass bands was suggested by the conductor Thomas Beecham; the bands were on hand anyway for a performance of Berlioz’s Te Deum, and Beecham said to the young Walton: "As you’ll never hear the thing again, my boy, why not throw in a couple of brass bands?".
It was an immediate success and is still frequently performed. Despite its familiarity, it does present challenges to the chorus, and it is rare to hear a performance, recorded or in concert, without a few tentative entries.
Some critical commentary, led by the first review in The Times, claimed that Walton saw no moral distinction between the Jews and the Babylonians, as the music for both groups is equally jubilant and gloating. However, a distinction can be found in the words. Although there is an early sequence where the Jews vow revenge in particularly violent terms, their eventual victory is conveyed in praise and thanksgiving, the words "Alleluia, for great Babylon’s fallen" mixed with regret "while the kings of the earth weep, wail" for the fallen city.
