Le Roi David was composed in Mézières, Switzerland, in 1921 by Arthur Honegger, as incidental music for a play in French by René Morax. It was called a dramatic psalm, but has also been performed as oratorio, without staging. The plot, based on biblical narration, tells the story of King David, first a shepherd boy, his victories in battle, relationship to Saul, rise to power, adultery, mourning of his son's death, and finally his own death. The work has 27 musical movements consisting of voice solos, choruses, and instrumental interludes. A narrator unifies the work by providing spoken narration of the story of King David.
Arthur Honegger was commissioned to write incidental music to accompany René Morax's play Le Roi David in 1921. The commission outlined that the work was to be performed by 100 singers and seventeen instruments. Honegger struggled with these limited resources, and wrote to Igor Stravinsky for advice. Stravinsky advised him to think as if he had purposefully chosen that instrumentation, and compose as such. Honegger had a nearly impossible deadline of two months to complete the work. This short deadline made it necessary for him to write the movements of this 27-movement work out of order. First, he wrote the choral and solo voice parts to allow the music to be copied and rehearsed. Honegger wrote the orchestration for the entire work last. He completed his composition on May 20, 1921, and was rewarded with much acclaim at the premiere on June 11, 1921. In 1923 he combined Morax's narrative with his music and created a "symphonic psalm", the form that is familiar today, and titled his work Le Roi David."Le Roi David" by Steve Schwartz (1995), Classical Net
Instrumentation
Original 1921 version: Honegger originally wrote his Le Roi David music for the forces that were available at Morax's Mézières village theatre group, creating a score for the resources available; a small ensemble of 16 musicians comprising: 2 flutes [1 doubling piccolo], 1 oboe [doubling cor anglais], 2 clarinets [1 doubling bass clarinet], 1 bassoon, 1 horn, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, timpani, 1 percussionist (playing snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, and tam-tam), piano, harmonium, celesta and 1 double bass. It was premiered there on 11 June 1921.
In 1923, bolstered by the success of the original version, Honegger re-scored the work for a standard orchestra of 2 flutes [1 doubling piccolo], 2 oboes [1 doubling cor anglais], 2 clarinets [1 doubling bass clarinet], 2 bassoons [1 doubling contrabassoon], 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, tam-tam, organ, celesta, harp, and strings) accompanying a chorus (often singing antiphonally or in unison), soprano, alto, tenor, and boy soprano soloists, a narrator and an actress for no. 12 – Incantation Scene (Saul and the witch of Endor). The music is separated into 27 mostly brief sections and features many individual instruments.
Structure The work is structured in three parts, the movements numbered to 27 in the 1952 edition (28 in the first edition).
+ Part I No. Title Translation Text source Voices 1 Introduction 2 Cantique du berger David The Song of David, the Shepherd A 3 Psaume: Loué soit le Seigneur Psalm: All Praise to Him Psalm SATB 4 Chant de victoire Song of Victory SATB 5 Cortège March 6 Psaume: Ne crains rien Psalm: In the Lord I Put my Faith Psalm T 7 Psaume: Ah! si j'avais des ailes de colombe Psalm: O Had I Wings Like a Dove Psalm S 8 Psaume – Cantique des Prophètes Song of the Prophets men's chorus 9 Psaume: Pitié de moi, mon Dieu Psalm: Have Mercy on Me, my Lord Psalm T 10 Le Camp de Saül Saul's Camp 11 Psaume: L'éternel est ma lumière infinie Psalm: God, the Lord Shall Be my Light SATB 12 Incantation Incantation A (speaking) 13 Marche des Philistins March of the Philistines 14 Lamentations de Guilboa The Lamentations of Gilboa Women's chorus
+ Part II No. Title Translation Text source Voices 15 Cantique de fête Festival Song women's chorus 16 La Danse devant l'arche The Dance before the Ark SATB
+ Part III No. Title Translation Text source Voices 17 Cantique: De mon cœur jaillit un cantique Song: Now my Voice in Song Upsoaring SATB 18 Chant de la servante Song of the Handmaid A 19 Psaume de pénitence Psalm of Penitence SATB 20 Psaume: Je fus conçu dans le péché Psalm: Behold, in Evil I Was Born SATB 21 Psaume: Je lève mes regards vers la montagne Psalm: O Shall I Raise mine Eyes unto the Mountains? T 22 La Chanson d'Ephraïm The Song of Ephraim S women's chorus 23 Marche des Hébreux March of the Hebrews 24 Psaume: Je t'aimerai, Seigneur, d'un amour tendre Psalm: In my Distress SATB 25 Psaume: Dans cet effroi Psalm: In this Terror, the Great God which I Adore SATB 26 Couronnement de Salomon The Coronation of Solomon 27 Mort de David The Death of David S SATB
Plot Le Roi David is divided into three main parts and tells the biblical story of King David. In the first part, the Lord directs the prophet Samuel to choose Saul as the ruler of the people of Israel. However, when Saul does not follow the Lord's instructions, Samuel is told to place David as ruler. The first part continues to tell the story of David's battles against the Philistines as well as Saul's growing jealousy of David. The second part covers David's crowning and unification of Israel. The third and final part tells of David's lust for Bathsheba and his punishment for adultery. In this final section of the piece, David flees Jerusalem, loses his power, manages to restore his position as king then offends God by censusing the people. An epidemic disease afflicts Jerusalem, and David appoints his son Solomon to succeed him and then dies. At the end of the piece an angel tells of Isaiah's prophecy of a flower blooming from David's stem."Arthur Honegger's King David, Francis Poulenc's Gloria
Analysis of text and music The most significant element of Le Roi David is the combination of different styles of music in one complete work. Honegger uses compositional techniques ranging from Gregorian chant to Baroque to jazz. Honegger's utilization of all of these concepts allowed him to make a serious contribution to the neoclassical era. The music is full of thematic gestures and is most often performed in French.A History of Western Music, Burkholder There is an English version by Edward Agate.
References
External links Texts and English language translations Michael Steinberg: The Symphony: A Listener's Guide, Oxford University Press 1995 "Honegger / King David", Gramophone 2014