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ESTHER OR THE
IMMACULATE MEDIATRIX Selection of
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OUR Immaculate Mother “spoiled” her children: for ten very active days which passed all too quickly they unceasingly sang Her praises, repeating with ardour the oratorio composed by Brother Henry of the Cross : ESTHER OR THE IMMACULATE MEDIATRIX. Like a beehive, the house hummed incessantly with the sounds of string and woodwind instruments and the voices of the choir, in a joyful effervescence. Joyful, but studious, for every year Brother Henry’s scores are more and more difficult, more and more elaborate. The entire text is set to music with the exception of the last scene. Everyone lent themselves to the work that was needed: intonation, rhythm, staging, phrasing, memorising, producing, etc. The result was of a celestial beauty… Yes, this music was “from Heaven”, and like a temptation this verse of the Song of Songs sprung incessantly to mind: “Oh, my soul, adore and be quiet!” Indeed, what words can express the beauty of this sacred music, entirely devoted to the glory of our dearest Mother? I must explain what is ineffable when all that is really needed is to listen, to savour and to let oneself be penetrated by this music in order to discover in oneself a greater devotion, a more tender love for the Heart of our Queen! That is exactly what Brother Henry has succeeded in doing! But now let us enter into this mystery… The Book of Esther was written in the latter times of the Old Testament, for our instruction, forbearance and consolation (Rm 15). In truth, our Father, faithfully followed by Brother Henry, has uncovered its luminous and prophetic meaning by applying its text to the last times through which we are living, those of the great apostasy ravaging the Church. Brother Bruno would explain all this to us during the camp. Esther is all about the reversal of fortunes. Evil is vanquished by the triumphant Immaculate, Our Lady of Victories! Esther is Her!
The final antiphon for the Vespers of the Assumption, Pulchra es et decora…, played in soft tones on the organ sets the piece’s liturgical mood. Psalm 20, whose composition is contemporary with that of the Book of Esther, a messianic chant in honour of King David, is here daringly applied to the Queen of Heaven. A lesson of faith and hope for faithful Catholics almost annihilated by the persecutions, like the Jewish people of old… A mixed choir of five voices, harmonised into a kind of faux-bourdon of the most beautiful effect, sings the next verses. But unaccompanied soprano voices, bright and lively, interrupt this incantation and intone the last verse: «Stand high above us, Lord, in your protecting strength; our song, our psalm, shall be of your greatness!» This verse is taken up by everyone in an insistent and joyful chant, full of confident fervour.
SCENE 1. At Susa, before the royal entrance. A “promenade” with a light, carefree ternary rhythm introduces us to an animated exchange between Jews and Persians commenting on recent events. Numerous changes of tempo make us sense the gravity of the situation: Queen Vashti has committed an unimaginable outrage by refusing to attend the sumptuous banquet offered by King Ahasuerus to all the noblemen of the realm. In accordance with the law, she will be banished from court. Esther is chosen from among all the maidens to replace her. Only Mordecai who is attached to the chancellery knows Esther’s true origins. The choir, in the bright key of A major sings its admiration. «A lily among the brambles, such is Esther among the other maidens.» (Sg 2.2) And everyone joins in with elation: «Sing, sing, sing to our Queen Esther. Sing of her grace and her beauty!» The refrain is taken up in a truly expressive and very pure duo. The scene ends on an ominous note. Numerous modulations in a minor key announce the arrival of the sinister Haman, the grand vizier, before whom all are obliged to bow. SCENE 2. Once again we heart the theme of the “promenade” ingeniously employed as an interlude between the different scenes. A chamberlain approaches the royal entrance and questions Mordecai who seems pensive, troubled by a dream which has left him no peace. An impressive rumbling of the orchestral tutti underlies the apocalyptic narrative. A long dominant pedal played on the sixteen-foot organ stops and some excellent orchestration create the almost physical sensation of an earthquake: «There were cries and noise, thunder and earthquakes, and disorder over the whole earth. Then two great dragons came forward. At the sound of them every nation made ready to wage war against the nation of the just.» A chromatic descent on modulating arpeggios of the violin plunges us into some dark tonalities in a minor key. «A day of darkness and gloom, of affliction and distress, oppression and great disturbance on earth. The righteous nation was thrown into consternation at the fear of the evils awaiting them, and prepared for death, crying out to God.» Suddenly, this climate of terror is transformed into a serene and luminous landscape. The profoundly gentle tones of the horns provide support to Mordecai’s voice which becomes clearer and more ardent. Magnificent! «Then, from their cry, as from a little spring, there grew a great river, a flood of water. Light came as the sun rose, and the humble were raised up and devoured the mighty.» Let us admire the art with which the music becomes the very soul of the text, helping us to better penetrate its meaning. Throughout this oratorio Brother Henry, conforming to the great traditions of sacred music, employs recitatives, an essential part of the drama, choruses, and duos or trios, all closely interwoven with the action. It is truly great art! SCENE 3. Scene 2, with its dream, gave us all the elements and the key to the drama that we are now entering and whose explanation will be given to us in scene 19. The grand vizier arrives at the palace and everyone except Mordecai prostrates themselves. Obsequiousness, servile fear are almost tangible in this series of interjections alternating between the sopranos and the basses: «It’s Haman, the Amalekite!» There follows a dialogue, rendered particularly lively by some varied instrumentation: accompaniments consisting of arpeggios, pizzicati, tremolos, drums, sforzandi and other effects used by our Brother Henry! Full of self-importance, Haman scorns this crowd who adore him but he is unable to contain his fury toward Mordecai, «this proud Jew» who stands up to him. His plan is ready, and snickering he enters the palace: «It would have been too little to strike none but him! Ha! ha! ha! to strike none but him!» This motif is taken up with gusto by a scoffing choir, but an early pedal in D brings us back sharply to the disturbing scene… SCENE 4. In a peremptory tone, an officer announces the edict of the extermination of all Jews in the kingdom, to take place on the 13th of the month (in ten days!), and this edict is… irrevocable! The chorus, taking up a verse from Psalm 73, expresses its sadness in harmonies of a poignant beauty: «God of Israel why have you rejected us? Why do you fulminate your anger against your people?» In a long lament in G major the Persians and the Jews unite their tears in a shared grief.
SCENE 5. «Penance! Penance! Penance!» In this triple appeal uttered by Mordecai wearing sackcloth and ashes, how can one resist stepping over the centuries and hearing the cry of the Angel of Fatima? Oh, these melodic sobs, full of restrained emotion, so beautifully rendered by Brother Thomas, stir the soul to the point of tears. «Mourn, my people, mourn like a virgin wearing sackcloth. Priests, put on sackcloth and ashes and lament. Take pity, Yahweh, on your people!» (Joel 1, 8 and13) SCENE 6. Two servants, hidden under ample capes, come in secret to tell Mordecai that Queen Esther is troubled by his behaviour and wishes to see him. SCENE 7. Mordecai’s Prayer. This slow passacaglia, with its ground bass on the theme “Dies iræ”, is undoubtedly one of the high points of this magnificent score. The melody develops freely, in a highly figuralist manner, the harmony varying according to the character of the text. A text which is also disturbingly reminiscent of our present times: «You know, Lord, that no insolence, arrogance or vainglory prompted me to this, to this refusal to bow down before proud Haman. I would readily have kissed his feet for the safety of Israel.» How can one resist thinking of a certain theologian of the Catholic Counter-Reformation in the twentieth century refusing the cult of Man? «But what I did, I did rather than place the glory of a man above the glory of God; and I will not bow down to any but to you, Lord; in so refusing I will not act in pride.» SCENES 8-9. Change of scenery. In Esther’s palace. Mordecai begs the Queen to intervene in favour of her people: «Speak to the King for us and save us from death!» The alternation between soloists and choir brings out the urgency, the tragedy of this supplication.
Esther is prepared to die, for whoever enters into the presence of the King without his invitation is liable to die: «If I must perish, I will perish.» The servants, in a most gentle trio, surround their Queen and Mistress , ready to pray, fast, weep and die with Her. Esther dressed in mourning clothes, turns towards the Almighty. SCENE 10. Esther’s Prayer. This prayer is the counterpart of Mordecai’s prayer and equals it in emotion: «Remember us Lord! Give proof of your power in the times of our tribulation. As for me, give me courage!» One would have to copy out the whole of this sublime, confident supplication with its melodies and ever-changing rhythms, closely reflecting the states of Esther’s soul. This low C, repeated in a measured and very pronounced ostinato, is the very image of the malediction invoked against the wicked. Truly impressive! «Change his feeling into hatred for our enemy, that the latter and all like him may be brought to their end.» The prayers of her servants rise gently up towards God Almighty: «Listen to the voice of those in despair! Deliver us from the hands of the wicked!» Esther concludes the scene on her own, in a very successful musical contrast: «And free me from my fear!»
SCENE 11. Ahasuerus’ Palace. Two resounding fanfares, played with brio by the brass section, trumpets and vibrant horns together, frame a courtly air for the King’s entrance. What awesome majesty, enhanced by vestments glittering with gold, with a train five metres long designed by our Sisters! Truly, the costumes are superb and they make an undeniable contribution to the beauty of the oratorio! It would be a good idea to read chapter five of the Book of Esther in its entirety as it is impossible to summarise this moving confrontation in which Esther, dressed in all her splendour, but swooning with fear, presents herself before the King’s throne. When the King at the height of his anger looks at her, she faints. Listen to the flutes expressing her collapse with their remarkable orchestral transitions. Then God changes the King’s heart, inclining him to gentleness: «What is the matter, Esther? I am your brother!» This term “brother” is surprising, and yet in the Song of Songs we do find the expression sister-spouse. «Only the pleasure the Lord finds in her innocent soul and the grace given him from Heaven can explain the King’s change of heart», wrote our Father. (English CRC no 196, p. 10) As for Esther, her face flushed with ecstasy before the Majesty, the Beauty of her Spouse, does it not make us think of the last verse of The Way of the Forest of Crosses? a poem composed by our Father, a paraphrase of the Dark Night of Saint John of the Cross. Harpsichord and flute accompany Esther’s invitation: «Would the King be pleased to come with Haman today to the banquet I have prepared for him?» SCENE 12. Zeresh, Haman’s wife, and several friends question him about the banquet he has just attended and to which the Queen has invited him again, along with the King. Undoubtedly they wish to honour him, to reward him… «But what do I care about all this when all the while I see Mordecai the Jew sitting there at the Chancellery?» Intense chords on the harpsichord and strident violins depict Haman’s fury; the sound of the cymbals intensifies with the rage of the grand vizier! Zeresh suggests to her husband that he should erect a pair of gallows and hang Mordecai on them, a figure of the Cross on which the Just One will perish. At this moment, the violins, accompanied by the harp, magnificently execute a sublime theme which contrasts with the preceding tumult. The Cross announces the Resurrection, evoked in this «mysterious night» by some very gentle tremolos and ethereal melodies. It is the Exultet of Easter Night, which Brother Henry here plays in anticipation of that certain resurrection which we await: «IN THE END, MY IMMACULATE HEART WILL TRIUMPH». A moment of eternity…
SCENES 13 to15. Accompanied by a continuo of harpsichord and violoncello, two chamberlains are talking while they wait for the King to arrive: «What have you to tell me that is so urgent?... – This past night, the King was strangely distraught. Unable to sleep, he called for the Record Book, the Chronicles, to be brought and read to him. The reading happened to be about Mordecai’s denunciation of the plot by two eunuchs to kill the King. When Mordecai learned of this, he warned the King in time who had them hanged.» Violins announce the entry of the King and the two chamberlains intone a canon, taken up by the choir in four voices with modulations. An excellent work of composition, capable of making a royalist out of the most inveterate republican! «Let us take our place next to the King to serve him!» The King, introduced by a brass trio, on learning that Mordecai who
had saved his life has never been rewarded, sends for Haman to ask his
advice in this affair: «What is the right way to treat a man whom the
King wishes to honour?» |
