Arthur Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (Joan of Arc at the Stake) was composed in 1938 and has remained one of his most popular works. Beyond the timelessly compelling quality of the subject matter, which is actually handled in a totally non-melodramatic way, the piece, which Honegger called a dramatic oratorio, weaves astonishing variety into its roughly 75 minutes of music. With text by poet Paul Claudel, it offers not operatic development but a series of tableaux, some of them depicting Joan's recollections from her ...
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Arthur Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (Joan of Arc at the Stake) was composed in 1938 and has remained one of his most popular works. Beyond the timelessly compelling quality of the subject matter, which is actually handled in a totally non-melodramatic way, the piece, which Honegger called a dramatic oratorio, weaves astonishing variety into its roughly 75 minutes of music. With text by poet Paul Claudel, it offers not operatic development but a series of tableaux, some of them depicting Joan's recollections from her earlier life. The climactic burning, however, is intensely powerful. The work includes monodic sections, colorful orchestration including the electronic ondes Martenot, sober Bachian counterpoint, and comic folkish scenes, but it all hangs together. Honegger, unlike the other members of Les Six, affirmed the influence of Wagner and his Gesamtkunstwerk concept, and one of the secrets to this oratorio's success is its "music drama" aspect, the way it hangs between opera and drama. The...
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