ABSTRACT
The cantata, effectively an occasional work, was probably intended for a benefit performance, the usual practice to conclude a prima donna's engagement. The artistic consequences of two years of intensive study were to find expression in the oratorio Gott und die Natur and the opera Jephthas Gelubde. The cantata is remarkably and rather extraordinarily written for soprano and solo clarinet. Use of monodramatic accompagnati and the commenting chorus take up the French tradition of the choeur danse, and show Meyerbeer experimenting and expanding on the traditional dramatic cantata. The cantata is also of interest in the celebration of harmony, the eight-part choral writing, and the extraordinary richness and versatility of the brass orchestra. The treatment of the chorus and the attraction of musical pictorialism show the influence of Handel where there is a similar intermingling of theatrical and oratorio styles.
