![Marten van Valckenborch Tower of babel-large](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Marten_van_Valckenborch_Tower_of_babel-large.jpg)
''Der Thurm zu Babel'' (''The
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages.
According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...
'') is a one-act 'sacred opera' by
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sa ...
to a
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...
by
Julius Rodenberg
Julius Rodenberg (originally ''Julius Levy''; 26 June 1831, Rodenberg – 11 July 1914, Berlin) was a German Jewish poet and author.
He studied law at the universities of Heidelberg, Göttingen, Berlin, and Marburg, but soon abandoned jurisprud ...
based on the story in the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
, chapter II. The opera was written in 1869 and had its first performance in
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
on 9 February 1870.
Background
The term 'sacred opera' (''geistliche Oper'' in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
) was invented by Rubinstein to denote staged works with "use of polyphonic choruses and a sober, edifying style relying on ‘exalted declamation’." Rubinstein composed three other works of this type (''
Sulamith'',
''
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...
'' and ''
Christus
Christus may refer to:
* Christ (title) People
* Petrus Christus (c. 1410s – c. 1475), Dutch painter
* Sir Christus (1978–2017), Finnish musician Music
* ''Christus'' (Liszt), an oratorio
* ''Christus'' (Mendelssohn), an unfinished oratorio ...
)''. A fifth sacred opera, ''
Cain
Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He ...
'', was uncompleted at his death.
The composer had hoped for a premiere in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, but was consoled by the work's second production in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
on 20 February 1870, (which was attended by
Johannes Brahms), after which Rubinstein wrote it had been 'brilliantly performed and very well received by the public.' The work's first performance in America was in May 1881 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, when it was conducted by
Leopold Damrosch
Leopold Damrosch (October 22, 1832 – February 15, 1885) was a German American orchestral conductor and composer.
Biography
Damrosch was born in Posen (Poznań), Kingdom of Prussia, the son of Heinrich Damrosch. His father was Jewish and his m ...
.
The destruction of the Tower in ''Der Thurm zu Babel'' is imaginatively realized by discordant passages in the orchestra (involving some passages in quintuple
metre
The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...
) and the chorus beginning to sing in three different languages. A performance lasts about 45 minutes.
Roles
Synopsis
Nimrod and the Master Builder exult at the imminent success of their project to reach Heaven by building the Tower. Abraham rebukes them and is thrown into a fiery furnace at Nimrod's orders. As the workers praise
Baal
Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied t ...
, angels descend and destroy the Tower, to the confusion of Nimrod and all present. Both the angels and the demons claim victory. 'As usual', comments
Richard Taruskin
Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...
, 'the last-named get the most imaginative music'.
[Taruskin, ''Thurm zu Babel, Der'']
Notes
Sources
* Graham Dixon and
Richard Taruskin
Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...
. "Sacred opera."
Grove Music Online accessed 17 April 2010
* Carl Gerbrand, ''Sacred music drama: the producer's guide; second edition'', Bloomington, 2006. Accessed i
Google Books April 18, 2010
*
* Richard Taruskin. ''Thurm zu Babel, Der.''
Grove Music Online accessed 18 April 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurm Zu Babel, Der
Operas
1870 operas
German-language operas
Operas by Anton Rubinstein
Operas based on the Bible
One-act operas
Tower of Babel