Belshazzar's Feast is the title of an oratorio by the English composer William Walton. It was first performed at the Leeds Festival in 1931, and has remained one of the most popular works in the English choral repertoire. The text was arranged from Biblical sources by Osbert Sitwell. An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, vocal soloists and chorus. ... Sir William Turner Walton (March 29, 1902 - March 8, 1983) was a British composer influenced by the works of Stravinsky, Sibelius and the jazz genre. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... A choir is a musical ensemble. ... The Bible (From Greek βιβλιος biblios, meaning book, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported papyrus) is a word applied to sacred scriptures. ... Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, fifth baronet, was an English writer. ...

Synopsis

The story of Belshazzar's Feast is told in the Book of Daniel. The Jews are in exile in Babylon. After a feast at which Belshazzar, the Bablyonian king, commits sacrilege by using the Jews' sacred vessels to praise the heathen gods, he is miraculously killed, the kingdom falls, and the Jews regain their freedom. In the Book of Daniel (chapters 5 and 8) of the Tanakh or Christian Old Testament, Belshazzar is the King of Babylon, identified as the son of Nebuchadnezzar and as the last king before the advent of the Medes and Persians. ... The book of Daniel, written in Hebrew and Aramaic (most of chapters 2-7) and revolving around the Jewish prophet Daniel, is a book of the Tanakh, in the section known as the Ketuvim (Hagiographa), or the Writings in the Christian Old Testament. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Babylon (disambiguation). ... Blasphemy is the defamation of the name of God or the gods, and by extension any display of gross irreverence towards any person or thing deemed worthy of exalted esteem. ...

Musical structure

The work is scored for very large orchestra (which includes a saxophone, optional organ, two brass bands and a large percussion section), chorus in eight parts, semichorus, and baritone soloist. The chorus represents the Jewish people throughout, although they adopt the tone of the Babylonians when telling the story of the feast. Orchestra at City Hall (Edmonton). ... Saxophones of different sizes play in different registers. ... This article or section should be merged with Pipe organ The Casavant pipe organ at Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Montreal The organ is a type of keyboard musical instrument, distinctive because the sound is not produced by a percussion action, as on a piano or celesta, or by... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ... A choir is a musical ensemble. ... In music, a baritone is a male singer whose vocal range falls somewhere between that of a bass and a tenor. ...

It is in several distinct sections, played continuously. After a brief, recited introduction, the chorus and baritone sing of their homeland Zion, in an emotional setting of Psalm 137 (By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down, and wept), and angrily express their bitterness toward their captors. The narrative then begins, and in a prolonged sequence we hear their sense of horror, and then outrage, at the profanities of the king, followed by an exuberant march section depicting the king and his court praising their gods. The section is framed by a descending figure of four notes that passes down through the orchestra, immediately establishing a jazz influence with a flattened first note and marked syncopation. This article deals with the historical and biblical Zion of Israel. ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ...

This leads to an eerie, and economically orchestrated, depiction of the writing on the wall, and the death that night of Belshazzar. The people celebrate their freedom, in a joyous song of praise interrupted by a lament over the fall of a great city. The phrase writing on the wall (or sometimes handwriting on the wall) is an expression thats suggests future doom or misfortune, visible to almost anyone. ...

The music throughout is complex rhythmically, and richly orchestrated. The rhythms and harmonies reflect Walton’s interest in jazz and other popular music, pressed into service to tell a religious story. Rhythm (Greek ρυθμός = tempo) is the variation of the duration of sounds or other events over time. ... For the use of the term orchestration in computer science, see orchestration (computers) Orchestration or arrangement is the study and practice of arranging music for an orchestra or musical ensemble. ... This article is about musical harmony. ... Popular music, sometimes abbreviated pop music, is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are broadly popular. ...

History and commentary

Walton struggled with the setting for several years, and it grew from its original conception as a short work for small forces, as commissioned by the BBC, to its eventual form. Fortunately, this was an age of gifted amateur choruses, and conductors and institutions dedicated to bringing forward new music, and the Leeds Festival took on the first performance. ...

At first the work seemed avant-garde because of its extrovert writing and musical complexity, although it is always firmly tonal. The addition of the brass bands was suggested by the conductor Thomas Beecham; the bands were on hand anyway for a performance of Berlioz’s Te Deum, and Beecham said to the young Walton: "As you’ll never hear the thing again, my boy, why not throw in a couple of brass bands?". A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... Tonality is the character of music written with hierarchical relationships of pitches, rhythms, and chords to a center or tonic. ... Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... Thomas Beecham (April 29, 1879 - March 8, 1961) was a British conductor. ... Portrait of Berlioz by Signol, 1832 Louis Hector Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie Fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Requiem of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. ...

It was an immediate success and is still frequently performed. Despite its familiarity, it does present challenges to the chorus, and it is rare to hear a performance, recorded or in concert, without a few tentative entries.

Some critical commentary, led by the first review in The Times, claimed that Walton saw no moral distinction between the Jews and the Babylonians, as the music for both groups is equally jubilant and gloating. However, a distinction can be found in the words. Although there is an early sequence where the Jews vow revenge in particularly violent terms, their eventual victory is conveyed in praise and thanksgiving, the words "Alleluia, for great Babylon’s fallen" mixed with regret "while the kings of the earth weep, wail" for the fallen city.