''La Rédemption'' (''The Redemption'') is an

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

in three parts by

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

arranged for the first time in 1882.

Composition

''La Rédemption'' is based on much earlier sketches, which were finished only after his publisher, Novello, arranged for its performances at the Birmingham Festival in 1882. The oratorio was a huge popular success and cemented Gounod's position in England. In the chorus of La Pentecôte (The Pentecost), Gounod elaborates his oratoria by developing a theme which he had written for the ''Cantique de nos Martyrs'', which he had written with Father Daller of the

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons de ...

in honour of the martyrs of Korea in 1866.

Theme

''La Rédemption'' was a return to Christian-themed sacred music which Charles Gounod had adhered to since his time in Rome, or in Berlin when her wrote on oratoria on the subject of Judith in 1842, or during his time as organist for the Chapel of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. In three parts, it is a meditation on the

Resurrection of Christ The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lord ...

, the Pentecost or descent of the Holy Spirit on the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles, and the Final coming of Christ in glory.

Production

The 1884 Paris premiere featured Jean-Baptiste Faure. Gounod considered this oratorio, and its sequel ''

Mors et vita ''Mors et vita'' is an oratorio in three parts by Charles Gounod premiered at the Birmingham Festival in 1885. It was conceived as a sequel to '' La rédemption'' (1882). The 1886 Paris premiere again featured Jean-Baptiste Faure. Gounod considere ...

'' (1885) as his greatest achievements. An orchestration of the ''oratorio'' composed by Berthold Tours gave rise to a copyright controversy after it was played differently at the Boston Theatre on 21 January 1883. In the end the

United States Circuit Court The United States circuit courts were the original intermediate level courts of the United States federal court system. They were established by the Judiciary Act of 1789. They had trial court jurisdiction over civil suits of diversity jurisdic ...

decided that the publication of a

piano-forte The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

score did not entitle any one to arrange orchestral parts therefrom and perform the work as being either that of the composer or the arranger, affecting the vexed question of copyright treaty between England and the United States at the time. The controversy, beyond its bitterness, reveals the popularity of the ''oratoria'' which had rapidly conquered an audience in England and in America.

Reception

Though the reception of ''La Redemption'' was contrasted, artists such a pianist Franz Liszt considered that it was a "turn towards the sublime" and that success was not what Gounod was seeking. In England ''The Redemption'' was widely appreciated and given "a place among the highest things of well-judged and rightly applied art" according to music critic Joseph Bennett. After hearing ''La Rédemption'' being played in

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, another music critic Eduard Hanslick wrote a bitter commenterary in the '' Neue Freie Press'' in which he said that he considered Charles Gounod had written his ''oratorio'' "more as a devotee than as a musician". Notwithstanding a certain amount of adverse criticism , has continued steadily to advance in popular estimation.

Recordings

*" La Pentecôte" - extract on ''Airs sacrés français'' Françoise Pollet, orchestre national d'Île-de-France Jacques Mercier 1997 *"From thy love as a Father" - on ''Gounod Sacred Choral Works''. Joanna Burton

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redemption Oratorios by Charles Gounod 1882 oratorios Oratorios based on the Bible