L'enfance Du Christ by HECTOR BERLIOZ

FRIDAY EVENI NG DECEMBER 20th f/27 I q C:'-.C. ) o~'C!- THE LITTLE ORCHESTRA SOCIETY THOMAS SCHERMAN, conductor

L'Enfance du Christ BY HECTOR BERLIOZ

PROGRAM NOTES BY HERBERT WEINSTOCK

OPERA HOUSE Brooklyn Academy of Music

FRIDAY EVENING· DECEMBER 20 , 1957 THE CAST

LA SAINTE MARIE-Frances Bible, MEZZO-SOPRANO

LE RECITANT} . Leopold s~moneau, TENOR UN C ENTURION

LE SAINT JOSEPH} . . , M artwl Smgher, BARITONE HERODE

, POLYDORUS} ]an Rubes BASS LEPERE DE FAMILLE '

THE AMERICAN CO CERT CHOIR-Margaret HiUis, DIRECTOR

PART I • Herod's Dream

INTERMISSION

PART II • The Flight into Egypt

PART III • The Arrival at Sais L'ENFANCE DU CHRIST Hector Berlioz, 1803-1869

ISITI'{G at a friend's home one evening during 1849. Berlioz was bored because the other V guests were playing cards. He began idly to sketch out a brief organ composition. His friend Pierre Due. architect of the Bastille Column, dissuaded him from continuing thi Andantino, however, and turned him to composing something for a souvenir album. The resulting mu ic. thus idly begun ~ shortly became a chorus in which a group of shepherds bids farewell to the Holy Family leaving for the fli ght into Egypt. The text was by Berlioz himself. As a joke of which Due shared the knowledge, Berlioz next invented a seventeenth· century chapel-master named Pierre Ducre, "dated" the "Adieu des Bergers" 1679, and gave out that it was Ducre's work.

Within one year Berlioz had added to the "Adieu" a brief orchestral overture, an in strumental interlude entitled "Le Repos de la Sainte Famille," a tenor recitative describing the Holy Family's rest by the wayside, and a very short final chorus of angels chanting " Alleluia." To the entire brief cantata he gave the title "La Fuite en Egypte," allowing it to be performed on November 17, 1850, as the work of " Ducre." Although Berlioz knew that a listener would have to be as "ignorant as a fish" to believe that any seventeenth-century composer could have produced a work so clearly modern in harmony, most Parisian critics swallowed the hoax. Publishing " La Fuite" shortly later, Berlioz admitted his authorship, but allowed to stand on the title page the phrase "Attributed to Pierre Ducre, imaginary chapel-master."

Between 1850 and July 1854, Berlioz added two much longer sections to " La Fuite," which thus became Part II of a triptych, all with text by himself. The opening section of this "trilogie sacree" he called "Le Songe d' Herode" ("Herod's Dream" ) ; the final section is "L'Arrivee a Sa~s" ("The Arrival at Sai's" ) . Calling the three-part work L'Enfance du Christ- which Jacques Barzun wisely translates as The Infant Christ rather than The Child hood of Christ - Berlioz himself conducted its premiere on December 10, 1854, the evening before his fifty-first birthday. The concert was an unexpected success: the work was received enthusiastically by an audience sufficiently large to earn the composer eleven hundred francs.

L' Enfance du Christ, though stylistically remote from the Berlioz popularly supposed to require an army of thundering instruments for each composition, was soon established as one of his works for which there was always a public. So unlikely a Berliozian as Johannes Brahms regarded it as, at least in part, the French composer's chef d'oeuvre. Its neglect until recent years was but one more of the inexplicable accidents marking the so-called " standard repertoire." L' Enfance du Christ

PART I: " Le Songe d'Herode" ("Herod's Dream") [A LIT E RAL ENGLISH T RANSLATION FOLLOW EACH SECTION OF THE FRENCH TEXT] "Le Songe d'H erode" is dedicated to the two daughters of Berlioz's sister Adele, Jose phine and ~ anc i Suat. It opens with a diminutive recitative for Le R ecitant (The Narrator) :

LE RECIT :\. '\T : Dans la cr(·che. en ce temps. J esu vena it de naitre, Mais nul prodige encor ne l'avait fait connaitre ; Et deja les puissants tremblaient. Deja les faibles esperaient, Tous attendaient . .. Or. appr<'IH'Z. chreticns. quel crime epouvantable Au roi des juifs alors suggera la terreur. Et le celeste avis que. dans leur humble etable, \ ux parents de Jesus envo) a le Seigneur. [The Narrator : At this time Jesus had just been born in the manger, but no marvel had yet made this known ; and already the powerful trembled. already the weak hoped. Everyone waited ... Now learn, Christians, of the dreadful crime that terror had suggested to the king of the Jews. and of the Heavenly counsel that God sent to the parents of Je us in their humble stable.] Following this prologue. the score indicates "A street in Jerusalem ; a corps of guards ; Roman soldiers making their nightly rounds." This ghostly and peculiar " octurnal March," which at last dies a\\ a) in a ~omehow menacing silence. is suspended for a few moments midwa) \\hile A Centurion (tenor ) and Polydorus (another centurion. bass) discuss the t) rant Herod and his troubled state of mind:

L '\ CE'\ TLRIOX: Qui vient?

POL\DORL : Rome.

LE 0 .:\Tl RION: Avancez!

POL\DORUS : Halte!

LE CE TURION: Polydorus ! Que fait Herode?

POLYDORUS: Il reve, il tremble, Il voit parlout des traitres, il as emble on conseil chaque jour; et du soir au malin Il faut sur lui vei ller: il no us obsede en fin.

LE CE'\TURION : Ridicule tyran! Mais va, poursuis ta ronde.

POLYDORLS : Il le faut bien. Adieu ! Jupiter le confonde ! [Centurion: Who goes there? Polydorus: Rome. Centurion: Step forward! Polydorus: Halt! Centurion: Polydorus ! What is Herod doing ? Polydorus : He dreams, he trembles, he sees traitors everywhere, he assembles his council each day; and from evening to morning we must watch over him ; in short, he torments us. Centurion: Ridiculoustyrant! But go, pursue your rounds. Polydorus: I must. Farewell. Jupiter confound him!] The "Nocturnal March" tiptoes to its conclusion. The scene shifts to "The Interior of the Palace of Herod." Soliloquizing in royal solitude, Herod discusses his disturbing, re current dream about a child who will dethrone him. Of this evocative scene Jacques Barzun rightly wrote that it shows a Berlioz who "knew as well as Wagner or any other German technician how to develop a scene from a brief musical motto."

HERODE: Toujours ce reve! encore cet enfant Qui doit me detroner! Et ne sa voir que croire De ce presage mena<;ant Pour rna vie et rna gloire! 0 misere des rois! Regner et ne pas vivre! A tous donner des lois. Et desirer de suivre Le chevrier, le chevrier au fond des bois! 0 nuit profonde Qui tiens le monde Dans le repos plonge, A mon sein ravage Donne la paix une heure, Et que ton voile effleure Mon front d'ennuis charge! Effort sterile! Le sommeil fuit; Et rna plainte inutile Ne hate point ton cours, interminable nuit. [Herod: Always this dream! Again this child destined to dethrone me! And not knowing what to believe of this sign menacing my life and my glory! 0 the misery of kings! To rule and not to live! To give laws to all while wishing instead to follow the goatherd to the depths of the woods! 0 profound night that has plunged the world into repose, give peace for one hour to my disturbed breast and let your mask lightly cover my forehead, so disturbed by weariness! Futile effort! Sleep evades me; and my useless pleading does not hasten your passing, inter minable night.] Polydorus enters. The terrified Herod at first threatens him with a sword, but recognizes him in time.

POLYDORUS: Seigneur!

HERODE: Laches, tremblez ! J e sais tenir encore Une epee . . .

POLYDORUS: Arretez!

HERODE: Ah! c'est toi, Polydore! Que viens-tu m'annoncer?

POLYDORUS: Seigneur, les devins juifs viennent de s'assembler Par vos ordres. HERODE: Enfin!

POLYDORUS: lis sont la!

HERODE: Qu'ils paraissent! [ P olydorus: My lord! Herod: Tremble, you cowards, I still know how to manage a sword . .. Polydorus: Stop! Herod: Ah, it's you, Polydorus! What have you come to tell me? Poly dorus: My lord, the Jewish soothsayers have just assembled at your orders. Herod: Finally! Polydorus: They are here! Herod: Let them appear!] The soothsayers enter. In the accompaniment to their address to Herod the bassoon supplies a peculiarly Berliozian touch.

LES DEVINS: Les sages de J udee, o roi! te reconnaissent Pour un prince savant et genereux. Ils te sont devoues; parle, qu'attends-tu d'eux?

HERODE: Qu'ils veuillent m'eclairer. Est-il quelque remede Au souci devorant qui des longtemps m' obsede?

LES DEVINS: Quel est-il?

HERODE: Chaque nuit Le meme songe m'epouvante; Toujours une voix grave et lente Me repete ces mots: "Ton heureux temps s'enfuit! "Un enfant vient de naitre "Qui fera disparaitre "Ton trone,. et ton pouv01r. ..." Puis-je de vous savoir Si cette terreur qui m'accable Est fondee, et comment ce danger redoubtable Peut etre detourne? LES DEVINS: Les esprits le sauront, Et, par nous consultes, bientot ils repondront. [Soothsayers: The wise men of Judea. 0 King, know you as a wise and generous prince. They are devoted to you; speak, what do you wish from them? Herod: That they enlighten me. Is there some remedy for the devouring anxiety that has tormented me so long? Sooth sayers: What is it? Herod: Every night the same dream terrorizes me; always a grave, slow voice repeats these words to me: "Your happy days are running out! A child has just been born who will bring about the disappearance of your throne and your power ..."Can I learn from you whether this terror that overpowers me has any foundation and how this formid able danger can be warded off? Soothsayers: The spirits will know this, and if we consult them, will answer soon.] "The Soothsayers perform a cabalistic ceremony and proceed to conjure up spirits." Here again is Berlioz the master of psychological effect. The purely instrumental scene of incantation is composed in alternating measures of 3/ 4 and 4/ 4 time, in which he directs that the basic quarter notes of the different measures should be of equal duration, thus mak ing a double measure of 7/ 4 time, an extraordinarily "modern" device for the mid-nineteenth century. The harmonies, though simple, are unfamiliarly juxtaposed. Weirdness, as Tom S. Wotton wrote, is "inherent in the musical thought." Having consulted the spirits, the Soothsayers tell Herod what they have learned; m their advice and Herod's replies, the Massacre of the Holy Innocents is foretold:

LES DEVINS: La voix dit vrai, seigneur. Un enfant vient de naitre Qui fera disparaitre Ton trone et ton pouvoir. Mais nul ne peut savoir Ni son nom ni sa race. HERODE: Que faut-il que je fasse?

LES DEVINS: Tu tomberas, a moins que l'on ne satisfasse Les noirs esprits, et si, pour conjurer le sort, Des enfants nouveau-nes tu n'ordonnes la mort.

HERODE: Eh bien, eh bien, par le fer qu'ils perissent! Je ne puis hesiter. Que dans Jerusalem, A Nazareth, a Bethleem, Sur tousles nouveau-nes mes coups s'appesantissent! Malgre les cris, malgre les pleurs De tant de meres eperdues, Des rivieres de sang vont etre repandues. J e serai sourd a ces douleurs. La beaute. la grace, ni l'age Ne feront faiblir mon courage; Il faut un terme a mes terreurs!

LES DEVINS: Oui, oui! par le fer qu'ils perissent! N'hesite pas!

LES DEVI S et Que dans Jerusalem, etc. HERODE: La grace ni 1' age HERODE: ~ N e feront faiblir mon courage; ~ Il faut un terme ames terreurs! E-< lol (..') LES DEVINS: 0 Et vous, esprits, pour attiser sa rage, E-< Redoublez ses terreurs. Demeure sourd a ces douleurs!

(Soothsayers: The voice speaks the truth, my lord. A child has just been born who will brinp; about the di appearance of your throne and your power. But no one can know either hi name or his race. Herod: What must I do? Soothsayers: You will fall unless the black spirits can be satisfied and unless, to win good fortune, you order the death of all newly born chil dren. Herod: Well then, well then, let them perish by the sword! I must not hesitate. Let my blows fall heavy on all the newly born in Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem! Despite the cries and tears of so many distraught mothers. let rivers of blood pour forth. I'll be deaf to these sorrows. Not beauty nor grace nor age will be able to weaken my determination: an end must be put to my terrors! Soothsayers: Yes, yes. let them perish by the sword! Do not delay! And you, spirits, in order to fan the flames of his rage, redouble his terrors. Let him be deaf to these sorrows!] A short, sharp orchestral climax diminishes to silence-measured silence. for Berlioz has asked the conductor to beat out several measures of it before proceeding to the next scene. Only after these measures are we transferred to "The Manger in Bethlehem." where Mary and Joseph watch over the infant Jesus:

LA SAINTE MARIE: 0 mon cher fils, donne cette herbe tendre Aces agneaux quivers toi vont belant; Ils sont si doux! laisse, laisse-les prendre N e les fais pas languir, o mon enfant.

(Repeat) MARIE el JOSEPH: Repands encor ces fleurs, ces fleurs sur leur litiere. Ils sont heureux de tes dons, cher enfant; Vois leur gaite, vois leurs jeux, vois leur mere Tourner vers toi son regard caressant. Oh! sois beni. mon cher et tendre enfant! Oh ! sois beni, divin enfant! [Mary: 0 my dear son, give this tender grass to the sheep that are bleating around you. They are so sweet! Let them, 0 let them graze. Don't let them go hungry, 0 my child. Mary and J oseplz: catter these flowers over their stall again. The} are so happy with your gifts, dear child: see their happiness, see their gambolings~ see how their mother turns her caressing gaze on ) ou. Oh! be blessed, my dear and tender child! Oh! be blessed, divine child! J Now a chorus of Invisible Angels (sopranos and contraltos) warns Joseph and Mary of the danger to Jesus. advising them to flee toward Egypt. "Le Songe d' H erode" ends as the Angels softly chant "Hosanna! Hosanna!'' LES Al.\'GES: Joseph! Marie! Ecoutez-nous. MARIE el JOSEPH: Esprits de vie, Est-ce bien vous? LES ANGES: 11 faut sauver ton fils qu'un grand peril menace, Marie! MARIE: 0 ciel! mon fils! LES ANGES: Oui, vous devez partir, Et de vos pas bien derober la trace; Des ce ~oir au desert vers l'Egypte il faut fuir. MARIE et JOSEPH: A vos ordres soumis, purs esprits de lumiere, Avec Jesus, au desert no us fuirons. Mais accordez a notre humble priere La prudence, la force. et nous le sauverons. LES ANGES: La puissance celeste Saura de vos pas ecarter Toute encontre funeste. MARIE el JOSEPH: En hate allons tout preparer. LES ANGES: Hosanna! Hosanna! [Angels: Joseph! Mary! Hear us. Mary and Joseph: Spirits of life, is it really you? Angels: You must save your son, who is menaced by a great peril, Mary! Mary: 0 Heaven! My son! Angels: Yes. You must leave, } ou must cover up well all traces of your steps; this very evening you must flee into the desert toward Egypt. Mary and Joseph: Submissive to your orders, pure spirits of light, we shall flee into the desert with Jesus. But give us in response to our humble prayer the wisdom and the strength, and we shall save him. Angels: The celestial power will know how to keep your way free of all deadly danger. Mary and Joseph: Let us get everything ready immediately. Angels: Hosanna! Hosanna!] The chorus of angels is sung offstage to the accompaniment of an organ. Towards the close of the chorus, Berlioz has specifically indicated a "sourdine vocale" (that is, a "vocal mute"), the effect to be achieved either by closing the door to the stage anteroom or by having the singers turn around to face the rear of the anteroom. PART II: "La Fuite en Egypte" ("The Flight into Egypt")

"La Fuite en Egypte" is dedicated to John Ella (1802-88), founder of The Musical Union, London. It begins with an overture that sounds simplicity itself despite all its musical learning. It is in fugal style and makes use of the hypodorian mode, a scale roughly equiva lent to that consisting of the white notes between one A and another A on the piano. The overture is followed by "L'Adieu des bergers d la Sainte F amille," that shepherds' farewell to the Holy Family which was the first part of the score to be composed. This chorus (for sopranos, contraltos, tenors, and basses) is a prime example of Berlioz's power to com pose telling simplicities, that side of his multiple genius which is far too often kept from the public ear by the ridiculous notion that he could work only with colossal batteries of whirl ing instruments and mighty phalanxes of screaming singers. Here is the very essence of honest adoration. LES BERGERS: Il s'en va loin de la terre Ou dans l'etable il vit le jour. De son pere et de sa mere Qu'il reste le constant amour! Qu'il grandisse, qu'il prospere, Et qu'il so it bon pere a son tour! Oncques si, chez l'idolatre, Il vient a sentir le malheur, Fuyant la terre maratre, Chez no us qu'il revienne au bonheur! Que la pauvrete du patre Reste tou j ours chere a son coeur! Cher enfant, Dieu te benisse! Dieu vous benisse, heureux epoux! Que jamais de !'injustice V ous ne puissiez sentir les coups! Qu'un bon ange vous avertisse Des dangers planant sur vous! [The Shepherds: He is going far from the land where, in the stable, he first saw the light of day. May he remain the constant love of his father and mother! May he grow, may he pros per, and may he be a good father in his turn! If ever, in the land of idol-worshipers, he comes to feel sorrow, he can return to happiness among us, fleeing that unkind land! May the shepherd's poverty remain forever dear to his heart! Dear child, may God bless you. God bless you, happy pair. May you never feel the blows of injustice! May a good angel warn you of the dangers hovering over you!] After the chorus of shepherds, the orchestra tenderly introduces "Le Repos de la Sainte Famille," often regarded as the musical climax of the score. The description of the Holy Family stopping by the wayside is pronounced, in a peculiarly apt sort of song-recitative, by The Narrator. The lines beginning "Les pelerins etant venus" are given one of those melodies which only Berlioz knew how to compose, a melodic line so long and so uninterrupted as to seem, to many honest persons, not to be a melody at all. Yet it is a very beautiful one, ex tending without hiatus for forty-five and one-half measures! As The Narrator closes on the lines describing Angels on their knees adoring the Holy Child, the Chorus of Angels ends "La Fuite en Egypte" on a pianissimo, repeated "Alleluia." LE RECITANT: Les pelerins etant venus En un lieu de belle apparence, Ou se trouvaient arbres touffus Et de l'eau pure en abondance, Saint Joseph dit: "Arretez-vous Pres de cette claire fontaine. Apres si longue peine I c1. reposons-nous. " L'enfant Jesus dormait. Pour lors Sainte Marie, Arretant nine, repondit: "Voyez ce beau tapis d'herbe douce et fleurie, Le Seigneur pour mon fils au desert l'etendit, au desert l'etendit." Puis, s'etant assis sous l'ombrage De trois palmiers au vert feuillage, L'ane paissant, L'enfant dormant, Les sacres voyageurs quelque temps sommeillerent Berces par des songes heureux, Et les anges du ciel, a genoux autour d'eux, Le divin enfant adorerent.

LES ANGES: Alleluia! Alleluia! [The Narrator: The pilgrims having reached a spot of great beauty where they found leafy trees and an abundance of pure water, Saint Joseph said: "Stop near that clear spring. After so long a trial, let us rest here." The baby Jesus slept. Therefore the Holy Mary, stopping the ass on which she rode, replied: "See this beautiful carpet of sweet grass and flowers. God spread it in the desert for my son." Then, resting in the shade of three green-leafed palms, the ass grazing, the child sleeping, the holy travelers slept a while, lulled by happy dreams, and the Angels of the sky, kneeling all about them, adored the divine child. The Angels: Alleluia! Alleluia!]

PART III: "L' Arrivee a Sa"is" ("The Arrival at Sa"is")

"L'Arrivee aSa"is'' opens with The Narrator's description of the arrival of the Holy Family at Sai"s, a city "full of cruel people, proud of face." It is interesting to note that the melody of his song-recitative is derived from that of the overture to "La Fuite en Egypte," but now altered from its original 3/ 4 time to 4/ 4. (This final section of L'Enfance du Christ is dedi cated to "L'Academie de chant et a la Societe des Chanteurs de St. Paul, de Leipzig.")

LE RECIT ANT: Depuis trois jours, malgre l'ardeur du vent, Ils cheminaient dans le sable mouvant, Le pauvre serviteur de la famille sainte, L'ane, dans le desert etait deja tombe; Et, bien avant de voir d'une cite !'enceinte, De fatigue et de soi£ son maitre eut succombe Sans le secours de Dieu. Seule Sainte Marie Marchait calme et sereine, et de son doux enfant La blonde chevelure et la tete benie Semblaient la ranimer, sur son coeur reposant. Mais bientot ses pas chancelerent ... Combien de fois les epoux s'arreterent! Enfi.n pourtant, ils arriverent A Sa1s, haletants, Presque mourants. C'etait une cite des longtemps reunie A l'empire romain, Pleine de gens cruels, au visage hautain. Oyez combien dura la navrante agonie Des pelerins cherchant un asile et du pain.

[The Narrator: After three days, despite the violence of the wind, they went on through the shifting sand. The ass, that poor servant of the Holy Family, had fallen in the desert. And well before they saw the wall of a city its master would have succumbed from fatigue and thirst had it not been for God's help. Only the Holy Mary marched calm and serene, the blond hair and blessed head of her dear child reposing above her heart and seeming to give her strength. But at last her steps wavered ... How many times the couple stopped! ... At last, however, panting and almost dying, they reached Sa1s. This was a city that had long formed part of the Roman Empire, and it was full of cruel people, proud of face. Hear how long the harrowing agony of the pilgrims lasted as they looked for asylum and for bread.] During the following scene "Inside the City of Sa1s" Joseph tries vainly to obtain lodg ings and food for Mary and the Child. Twice they are abruptly refused succor. (Notice the brilliant use of the violas to depict the plaintive cries of the tired pilgrims and the use of the kettledrums to depict the vain knocking on the barred doors.)

LA SAINTE MARIE: Dans cette ville immense Ou le peuple en foule s'elance, Quelle rumeur! . . . J osep h .' . . . J., a1. peur . ' J en' en pms . pus1 ... 1as .... ' 1e . sms . morte . Allez frapper a cette porte. LE SAINT JOSEPH: Ouvrez, ouvrez, secourez-nous! Laissez-no us reposer chez vous! Que l'hospitalite sainte soit accordee A la mere, a 1' enfant. Helas! de la J udee Nous arrivons a pied. LE CHOEUR: Arriere, vils Hebreux! Les gens de Rome n'ont que faire De vagabonds et de lepreux.

LA SAINTE MARIE: Mes pieds de sang teignent la terre!

LE SAINT JOSEPH: Seigneur! rna femme est presque morte! LA SAINTE MARIE: Jesus va mourir ... e'en est fait: Mon sein tari n'a plus de lait! LE SAl T JOSEPH: Frappons encore a cette porte. [Holy Mary: In this immense town where people rush about in crowds-what noise! ... Joseph! ... I am afraid. I can do no more ... alas! ... I am d) in g. Go, knock on that door. Saint Joseph: Open, open, succor us! Let us rest in your house! May holy hospitality be ac corded to the mother, to the child. Alas! We come on foot from Judea. Voices Inside: Go away, vile Hebrews! The Roman people have nothing to do with vagabonds and beggars. Holy Mary: My feet stain the ground with blood. Saint Joseph: Lord! my wife is near to death. Holy Mary: Jesus is going to die ... it i the end: my dry breast gives no more milk! Saint ] oseph: Let us knock again, at this other door.]

LE SAI'\T JOSEPH: Oh! par pi tie secourez-nous! Laissez-nous reposer chez vous! Que l'hospitalite sainte soil accordee Ala mere, a !'enfant! Helas! de la Judee ous arrivons a pied. LE CHOEUR: Arriere, vii Hebreux! Les gens d'Eg) pte n'ont que fa ire De vagabonds et de lepreux. LE SAINT JOSEPH: eigneur! sauvez Ia mere! Marie expire .. . e'en est fait . Et son enfant n'a plus de lait. V otre maison, cruels, reste fermee! Vos coeurs sont durs ... Sous la ramee De ces sycomores, l' on voit Tout a l'ecart un humble toit ... Frappons encor ... mais qu'a rna voix unie Votre voix si douce, Marie, Tente aussi de les attendrir.

LA SAINTE MARIE : Helas! no us aurons a souffrir Partout l'insulte et l'avanie! J e vais tomber ...

MARIE et JOSEPH: Oh! par pi tie! Oh! par pi tie! secourez-nous, Laissez-nous reposer chez vous! Que l'hospitalite sainte soit accordee Aux parents, a !'enfant. Helas, de Ia Judee Nous arrivons a pied. Que l'hospitalite sainte, etc. [Saint Joseph: Oh! in pity, succor us. Let us rest in your house! May holy hospitality be ac corded to the mother, to the child. Alas! We come on foot from Judea. Voices Inside: Go away, vile Hebrews! The Egyptian people have nothing to do with vagabonds and beggars. Saint Joseph: Lord, save the mother! Mary expires ... it is the end ... And her child has no more milk. Your house, cruel men, remains shut! Your hearts arc hard ... Under the branches of these sycamores I saw, set quite a part, a humble roof ... Let us knock again ... but to my voice join your sweet voice, Mary. Try too to soften them. lloly Mary: Alas! We shall have to suffer everywhere both insults and affronts. I am going to fall ... Mary and Joseph: Pity! Pity! Succor us. Let us rest in your house! May holy hospitality be accorded to the parents, to the child. Alas, we come on foot from Judea. At last an Ishmaelite, Le Pere de Famille (bass), bids Joseph and Mary and the Child into his home. In this extended scene Berlioz employs soloists, chorus, and orchestra, as well as a small chamber group. He depicts the young Ishmaelites and their servants carrying out the Father's orders by means of a double fugue for chorus and orchestra (one subject in 4/ 4 time, the other in 6/ 4), and achieves convincing reality.

LEPERE: Entrez, entrez, pauvres Hebreux! La porte n'est jamais fermee, Chez nous, aux malheureux. Pauvres Hebreux, entrez, entrez, entrez! Grands dieux! queUe detresse! Qu'autour d'eux on s'empresse! Filles et fils et serviteurs, Montrez la bonte de vos coeurs. Que de leurs pieds meurtris on lave les blessures; Donnez de l'eau, donnez du lait, des grappes mures. Donnez de l'eau, donnez du lait! Preparez a !'instant Une couchette pour l'enfant. Que de leurs pieds meurtris on lave les blessures ! LEPERE et LE CHOEUR: Que de leurs pieds meurtris, etc.

LEPERE: Sur vos traits fatigues la tristesse est empreinte; Comment vous nomme-t-on?

LE SAl T JOSEPH: Elle a pour nom Marie, Je m'appelle Joseph, et nous nommons l'enfant Jesus.

LEPERE: Jesus! Quel nom charmant! Dites, que faites-vous pour gagner votre vie? Oui, quel est votre etat? LE SAINT JOSEPH: Moi, je suis charpentier. LEPERE: Eh bien, c'est mon metier, vous etes mon compere. Ensemble nous travaillerons, Bien des deniers nous gagnerons, Laissez faire. Pres de no us Jesus grandira, Puis bientot il vous aidera, Et la sagesse il apprendra, etc. LE PERE et LE CHOEUR: Laissez, laissez faire, etc. LEPERE: Pour bien finir cette soiree Et rej ouir nos hates, Employons la science sacree, Le pouvoir des doux sons. Prenez vos instruments, mes enfants: Toute peine cede ala flute unie ala harpe Thebaine. [lshmaelite Father: Come in, come in, poor Hebrews. The door to our house is never shut against those who are unhappy. Great gods! what distress! Gather around them, my daugh ters. son . and ervants. Show the goodness of your hearts. Wash the wounds on their bruised feet. Give them water. milk. ripe fruits; prepare immediately a crib for the child. Chorus of lshmaelites: Wash the wounds on their bruised feet. Give them water. milk, ripe fruits; pre pare immediately a crib for the child. Ishmaelite Father: On your tired features unhappiness lies plain. What are your names? Saint 1 oseph: Her name is Mary, I am called Joseph. and we have named the child Jesus. I shmaelite Father: Jesus-what a charming name! Tell me, what do you do to earn your living? Yes. what is your work? aint Joseph: I am a carpen ter. lshmaelite Father: WelL \\ell. that is my profession. You are my colleague. We'll work together. We'll earn a lot of pennies. Let it be thus. Near u Jesu will grow until later he can help )OU. And he'll acquire wisdom. Chorus of lshmaelites: Near us Jesus will grow un til later he can help you. And he'll acquire wisdom. I shmaelite Father: To clo e this evening well and please our guests. let us make use of the sacred science, the power of sweet sounds. Take up your instruments. my children: all sorrow gives way before the flute joined to the Theban harp.] There follows a short dance as three of the young Ishmaelites perform a piece of charm ing chamber music. a Trio for Two Flutes and Harp. After the Trio, the Ishmaelite Father, taking pity on the weariness of Joseph and Mary, sends them to their well-earned repose. They thank him in touching simplicity. Then The Narrator foretells Jesus's future sacrifice of Himself for mankind. The work ends as a Mystical Chorus (a cappella) speaks of Heavenly love. Part III of L'Enfance du Christ closes (as Part I closed on "Hosanna" and Part II on "Alleluia") on whispered repetitions of "Amen," the last of them marked by Berlioz pppp. LEPERE: Vous pleurez, jeune mere, Douces larmes, tant mieux! Allez dormir, bon pere, Bien reposez, Mal ne songez. Plus d'alarmes; Que les charmes De l'espoir du bonheur Rentrent en votre coeur! MARIE et JOSEPH: Adieu, merci, bon pere. Deja rna peine amere Semble s'enfuir, S'evanouir. Plus d'alarmes! Oui, les charmes De l'espoir du bonheur Rentrent en notre coeur. LEPERE et LE CHOEUR: Allez dormir, bon pere, etc.

MARIE et JOSEPH: Adieu, merci, bon pere.

LE RECITANT: Ce fut ainsi que par un infidele Fut sauve le Sauveur. Pendant dix ans Marie, et Joseph avec elle, Virent fleurir en lui la sublime douceur, La tendresse infinie, A la sagesse unie. Puis enfin de retour Au lieu qui lui donna le jour, Il voulut accomplir le divin sacrifice Qui racheta le genre humain De 1' eternel supplice Et du salut lui fraya le chemin. LE RECITANT et LE CHOEUR MYSTIQUE: 0 mon arne, pour toi que reste-t-il a faire, Qu'a briser ton orgueil devant un tel mystere! 0 mon coeur, emplis-toi du grave et pur amour Qui seul peut nous ouvrir le celeste sejour. Amen! Amen! [ I shmaelite Father: You weep, young mother-may the tears, then, be sweet! Go to your sleep, good father. Rest well, have no evil dreams. No more alarms; may the charms of hope of hap piness come back into your heart_ Mary and f oseph (while the I shmaelite Father and the Chorus repeat the preceding lines) : Go with God, thank you, good father. Now the bitter pain seems to leave, to vanish. o more alarms! Yes, the charms of hope of happiness come back into our hearts. Go with God, thank you. good father. The Narrator: It was thus that the Saviour was saved by an infidel. For ten years Mary, and Joseph with her, saw flower in Him sublime sweetness, infinite tenderness, both united to wisdom. Then at last came the return to the place that had seen his birth. lie had to accomplish the divine sacrifice that redeemed mankind from eternal punishment and showed it the way to salvation. The Narra tor and Mystic Chorus: 0 my soul, what is there for you to do but humble your pride in the face of such a mystery! ... 0 my heart, be full of that pure and solemn love which alone can open the Heavenly dwelling to us_ Amen! Amen!]

THE SINGERS

FRANCES BIBLE, a leading mezzo-soprano of the New York City Opera Company, made her debut with that company in 1948 as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. During the summer of 1955 she sang the same role at the Glyndebourne Music Festival, and she has also made guest appearances with the San Francisco Opera Company. To night she is appearing in L'Enfance du Christ for the second time.

LEOPOLD SIMONEAU, French-Canadian tenor, has starred in well over two hun dred performances with such organizations as the New Orleans, Montreal, and Central City Opera companies. He has been a guest star at the great European opera houses and music festivals, and is currently enjoying his third season with the Lyric Theatre of Chicago. Tonight marks Mr. Simoneau's seventh appearance in L'Enfance du Christ.

MARTIAL SINGHER, French-born baritone of the Metropolitan, was for several years leading baritone of the Paris Opera and Opera Comique. His former appearances with the Little Orchestra have been in Falla's Maese Pedro, Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer, The Pearl Fishers by Bizet, and Goyescas by Granados. Mr. Singher has sung the roles of Le Saint Joseph and Her ode in L'Enfance du Christ every year since 1951.

JAN RUBES, bass-baritone, turned to the study of music during World War II when the University of Prague's medical school, where he was a student, was closed, and in 1947 won first prize at the Prague Music Festival. Shortly afterward he took top honors at the International Music Festival in Geneva. His American career began in 1950 when he sang in Don Giovanni at New Orleans. This is his first appearance in L'Enfance du Christ.