Bradbury: Esther, the Beautiful Queen

Series: American Music  Publisher: A-R Editions
Click for samples
William B. Bradbury
Esther, the Beautiful Queen

Edited by Juanita Karpf

A038 Bradbury: Esther, the Beautiful Queen
978-0-89579-465-9 Full Score (2000) 9x12, xxv + 122 pp.
$61.00
In stock
SKU
A038
William B. Bradbury (1816–68) is best remembered for his contributions to church music and music education.  Among his choral compositions, the oratorio Esther, the Beautiful Queen was one of the most popular works during the latter half of the nineteenth century.  The work is a rich smorgasbord of mid-nineteenth-century musical styles.  In this oratorio, Bradbury combines serious religious idioms with the melodic formulas associated with popular song, as well as dances and operatic elements.  As was typical for many works of the time, Bradbury provided only partially notated accompaniments or no accompaniments at all, and these have been realized using cue-sized notes.  Based on the score published by the Mason Brothers in 1856, this is the first modern critical edition of Esther, the Beautiful Queen.
Part 1
  No. 1. Chorus of Haman's Friends: "Haman, Haman! Long live Haman!"
  No. 2. Solo (Haman): "Behold this Mordecai, in scorn"
  No. 3. Solo (Haman): "There is a certain people"
  No. 4. Solo (King): "The silver is given to thee"
  No. 5. Duet and Chorus (King and Haman): "A song of joy"
  No. 6. Solo (Prophet or Prophetess): "Lo! O'er the wicked"
  No. 7. Chorus of Jews: "Woe is me"—"Israel! O Israel"—"Zion in vain"
  No. 8. Duet (Mordecai and Esther, with Chorus of Jews): "Go thou unto the king"
  No. 9. Solo and Chorus (Mordecai and Chorus of Jews): "To thee, O Lord"
  No. 10. Chorus: "He that goeth forth and weepeth"
  No. 11. Duet (King and Esther): "What is it, Queen Esther?"
  No. 12. Song and Duet (King and Esther): "Long live our beauteous queen"
  No. 13. Chorus: "Haste to the banquet hall!"
  No. 14. Solo and Chorus (Zeresh): "Why should this Hebrew"
 
Part 2
  No. 1. Chorus of the Jews, with Solos (First Maid of Honor, Mordecai): "God is the refuge of his people"
  No. 2. Solo and Chorus (King): "What honor and dignity"
  No. 3. Duet (King and Haman): "Who is in the court?"
  No. 4. Chorus: "A-ha! Proud Haman begins to fall"
  No. 5. Quartet of Male Voices: "The king has given commandment"
  No. 6. Chorus: "Rejoice! Open ye the gates"
  No. 7. Solo and Chorus (High Priest or Maid of Honor and Hegai): "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace"
  No. 8. Solo and Chorus (Haman): "Thus shall it be done"
  No. 9. Solo (Zeresh or Maid of Honor): "Thy galling defeat"
  No. 10. Duet and Chorus (King and Haman): "Long live our beauteous queen"
  No. 11. At the Banquet (instrumental)
  No. 12. Dialogue (King, Esther, and Harbonah): "What is thy petition"
  No. 13. Quartet (First Maid of Honor, Zeresh, Mordecai, and Hegai): "Do I wake, or am I dreaming?"
  No. 14. Chorus: "When the Lord turned again"
  No. 15. Finale. Chorale: "Praise ye the Lord"
Robert M. Copeland, Notes, Dec. 2004.