Les Israélites sur la montagne d’Oreb

Saint-Saëns was only thirteen years old when he composed the first of his contributions to the oratorio genre, Les Israélites sur la montagne d'Oreb. In the course of his career, he was to produce three more such compositions: the Oratorio de Noël (1858-63), Le Déluge (1878) and The Promised Island (1913). Preserved in manuscript form, this first oratorio, based on a text by the French novelist and playwright Claude-Henri de Fusée de Voisenon (1708-1775) – the same text had been set by Mondonville in 1758 for the Concert Spirituel – was left unfinished. Saint-Saëns left only three sections, representing approximately a quarter of the original text. The first section, “Introduction et Chœur”, consists of an instrumental overture, followed by the lamentation “Hélas! Dieu nous conduit dans ce séjour d’alarmes”, sung by the three-voice Chorus of the Israelites (soprano, tenor, bass). The second section, “Récitatif et Chœur”, contains another lamentation for the Chorus of the Israelites (“Pourquoi détruit-il son ouvrage”) but also two solo interventions by Aaron (baritone), who enjoins his people to respect the Lord’s supreme will (“du Seigneur la volonté suprême”). The third and last part composed by Saint-Saëns is entitled “Entrée de Moïse”. An opening “Marche” (Allegro alla Marcia Moderato) for brass and timpani, gradually joined by the rest of the orchestra, precedes the entrance of Moses (tenor): “Quelles clameurs ont frappé mon oreille?” he intones a cappella. Moses then engages in an oratorical struggle with the Israelites, who accuse him of being the cause of their ills. The manuscript ends abruptly, leaving one of the tirades for the chorus unfinished, and with it a work of undoubted potential.