Evening star., 1954-12-26
News Of Music

The Childhood Of Christ"
Of Hector Berlioz. one Of the
most moving masterpieces of
religious music. will be given
tomorrow night at Washing
ton Cathedral. Paul Galloway
win conduct the large forces
observation-disclosures, bass. bari-
tone. tenor and soprano solo-
lists, and large orchestra.
Berlioz was Q professed
atheist, and the suitability Of
performance Of "LEnfance"
as q religious service has been
questioned by those who find
IN 1t no pervading expression
Of religious conviction.
It would be to beg the ques-
ton Of the following discus
sion to say that knowledge Of
Berlioz' non-belief In divinity
Is q major cause Of the diff
Guilty some people have In per-
ceiving the heavenly qualities
Of the music. but probably
there is many q piece Of good
church music that would be
less revered II It's composer
had been. like Berlioz. q news
paper reporter, and thereby
had had the occasion to talk
too much.
Both words and music of
+LEnfance" were composed by
Berlioz. so it may be worth
while to outline the libretto
to show both It's adherence to,
and departures from, Scrip
ture. (The word 'libretto"
may be misleading, as "LEn-
fance du Christ" was called
by its composer a Sacred
Trilogy." and is in no sense
an opera. Stage performances
took place only after the death
Of Berlioz.)
Reminiscent Of 'HomIef
The work opens with the
words Of the Narrator, who
says that since the birth OF
Christ there had been no
supernatural sign of his iden-
tity or whereabouts; that
therefore the mighty trem-
bled, and the weak could only
hope. He tells of the word
Of God to Mary and Joseph.
This recitation leads to a
dialogue between two Roman
soldiers in Jerusalem, a scene
which, with its confusion
of Identities. is slightly
reminiscent of the opening Of
Hamlet" a play that Berlioz
knew by heart. The soldiers
are unsympathetic to Herod,
the king. One tells the other
Of Herod's fear and cowardice.
Herod Is then shown not
as an unmitigated villain. but
as a king terrified by augury,
q dreamer with a crown who
would rather be alone in the
out of doors than a ruler with
the cares Of off1ce-a Macbeth
In short.
Twice in 10 minutes music
may be too often to find
Shakespeare in q nativity
story. but it must be remem-
bered that Berlioz worshiped
Shakespeare and turned to him
as the literary progenitor Of
his scores more than to any
other source.
Herod's fear of the unknown
Saviour Of the Jews has
prompted him to summon IL
Jewish soothsayers for advice.
He readily agrees to the
slaughter of the newborn and
succeeds in fostering and in
tensifying the courage the
soothsayers have implanted, in
him.
ViIified and Rejected
We now see Mary and Jo-
seph visited by the warning
angels. and in the second part
of the trilogy, the fight into
Egypt. There, in the city Of
Sais, the wanderers are Will
fed and refused asylum be-
cause they are Jews, first by
Romans and then by Egyp-
tians. Finally. they are given
shelter by Ishmaelites, and
the work concludes with the
rapt question of the NarTa-
tor: 20 my soul, what is left
for thee to do but to make
low thy pride at the sight Of
this mystery?"
In 1850, Berlioz performed
1.-THE Flight Into Egypt" the
central section of 81 Enhance"