ABSTRACT
That Dyson might turn to Job as a possible model for Nebuchadnezzar is understandable, for the work was authored by one of his mentors, whom he very much revered, and Job embodies Parry’s attempt to create a new choral-orchestral form to supplant the nineteenth-century oratorio (pace Palmer). Indeed, Job is designed in a novel manner. Organized compactly and lasting about an hour, it is in four interdependent scenes, rather than the two acts of the much longer traditional oratorio of the day, and consolidated by recurring thematic material: for example, the introduction features a unifying orchestral statement with a spacious diatonic C major contour, pedal point and sumptuous instrumentation that concludes scenes 1 and 4; and, in a transformed version, it appears at the end of the first choral episode in scene 2 (“The song of the shepherd has ceased”), then becomes the material for Job’s affirmation of faith and subsequent references in scene 3 (“I will say unto God”) and scene 4 (“Who shut up the sea with doors”). The soloists (Job/bassbaritone, Satan/tenor, Shepherd Boy/boy treble, and Narrator/bass) and chorus are employed in a different and imaginative fashion: for example, the personification of God by a male chorus in scene 1, the unusual and protracted lamentation of Job scena in scene 3, and, representing God in the whirlwind, the extended symphonic chorus (in six large architectural structures) in scene 4. And, due to the elimination of the separation between recitative, arias, and choruses, as well as the recurring thematic material, there is a symphonic coherence and impetus that had not been attempted previously by an English composer. It was a daring experiment. Dyson would have found appealing, too, Parry’s choice of text, based on human emotions and passions, and his ability to retain credibility in the narrative while deleting a certain amount of material and including some of his own words. Lastly, there were ample opportunities for Dyson to hear the music and study the score, for after the many performances following its premiere at Gloucester in 1892 – for example, Worcester (1893), Hereford (1894), Cardiff, Hereford, Leeds, Liverpool (1894), Birmingham (1897), Gloucester (1901), Oxford (1908), Hereford (1909) – the work was heard in London (at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in 1925), Gloucester (1925), and Dorking (1929).9
