''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 mus ...

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'' (1859); his '' Roméo et Juliette'' (1867) also rema ...

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 Christianity, Christian belief that God in Christianity, God Resurrection, raised Jesus on the third day after Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion, ...

, the

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers o ...

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 Jean-Baptiste Faure () (15 January 1830 – 9 November 1914) was a French operatic baritone and art collector who also composed several classical songs. Singing career Faure was born in Moulins. A choirboy in his youth, he entered the Pari ...

. 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 considered ...

'' (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 jurisdi ...

decided that the publication of a piano-forte 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 Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

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 ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mu ...

Joseph Bennett. After hearing ''La Rédemption'' being played 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 ...

, another

Eduard Hanslick Eduard Hanslick (11 September 18256 August 1904) was an Austrian music critic, aesthetician and historian. Among the leading critics of his time, he was the chief music critic of the '' Neue Freie Presse'' from 1864 until the end of his life. H ...

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 Jacques Mercier (born 17 October 1943 in Mouscron) is a Belgian writer and television and radio presenter. The third eldest son of René and Denise Mercier, Jacques Mercier was educated at St. Joseph's College. Mercier joined RTBF in Septembe ...

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