''La Terre Promise'' 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 mus ...

in three parts by

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...

to a French

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 theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by the composer based on the French translation of the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

Silvestre de Sacy Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy (; 21 September 175821 February 1838), was a French nobleman, linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist. Life and works Early life Silvestre de Sacy was born in Pa ...

. It was first performed at L'église Saint-Eustache in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on March 15, 1900, with Jean Noté, baritone, Lydia Nervil, soprano, and the orchestra and chorus totaling 400, directed by a former pupil of Massenet, Eugène d'Harcourt. The work was preceded at its first performance by the French premiere of ''

Das Liebesmahl der Apostel ''Das Liebesmahl der Apostel'' (1843) WWV 69 (in English ''The Feast of Pentecost'', "The Love-Meal of the Apostles") is a piece for orchestra and male choruses by Richard Wagner. It is rarely performed and little known. Many years after having w ...

'' (given as ''La dernière Cène des Apôtres''). The oratorio's three parts relate scenes from the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. The first part (Moab - L'Alliance) depicts

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 pro ...

' pact with God: that the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

will obey His law if He allows them passage across the river

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

to the promised land. The second part (Jéricho - La Victoire) recounts the fall of

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

, and in the third (Chanaan - La Terre Promise) the Jews reach

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

and sing a hymn of praise to God.Gillis, Patrick. La Terre Promise ~ Oratorio. ''L’Avant-Scène Opéra 148 – Esclarmonde ~ Grisélidis.'' L’Avant-Scène Opéra, Paris 1992, p.133-5. In a rare modern performance ''La Terre Promise'' was part of the 1992 Massenet Festival, (with

Laurent Naouri Laurent Naouri, Chevalier L.H. (born May 23, 1964) is a French bass-baritone. Initially beginning his education at the École Centrale de Lyon, Naouri decided to concentrate on opera in 1986 and continued his musical studies at the Guildhall S ...

among the cast).Laurent Bury
"Jean-Louis Pichon: 'Je pense avoir fait évoluer le regard des gens sur Massenet'"
Interview with Jean-Louis Pichon, 9 Nov 2011, on forumopera.com. Accessed 10 August 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terre Promise Oratorios by Jules Massenet Cultural depictions of Moses 1900 oratorios