Richard Blackford: Babel Study Score

Babel A Cantata

Richard Blackford

Libretto by Richard Blackford based on Flavius Josephus: The Antiquities of the Jews, The Book of Jubilees and The Book Of Genesis

Conductor Score

2021 Nimbus Music Publishing

CHORUS:

BABEL

Part I - The Flood

The children of Seth praised God For seven generations They praised God As Lord of the universe

But in time They paid Him no honour They made Him their enemy

They did not care for justice, They despised what was good Because they were confident In their own strength

BARITONE SOLO: But Noah was uneasy He pleaded That they might change their minds And deeds

But seeing they would not yield to him He departed from that land

CHORUS: Now God became angry He resolved to destroy the human race And make another free from wickedness

BARITONE SOLO: But God loved Noah for his goodness He bade him make an ark And Noah entered the ark Also his wife his sons their wives So Noah alone with his family was saved

CHORUS/ TENOR SOLO: God gave the signal and it began to rain Water poured down for forty days Till it rose fifteen cubits higher than the earth There was no place left to flee The dry land He turned into sea Destroying all mankind.

(INTERLUDE I: STORM AND FLOOD)

CHORUS: The rain ceased The water subsided But Noah was afraid What if God should drown the earth again?

He prayed that Nature might be restored That God would not again bring such a flood By which mankind might further be destroyed

BARITONE: Now God who loved Noah Granted his prayers and said:

SOPRANO SOLO/ TENOR SOLO/ BARITONE SOLO Because of your prayers I will leave off such punishments

SOPRANO SOLO

For the time to come

Do not fear the largeness of the showers For water shall no more cover the earth I have set my rainbow in the clouds This shall be my covenant Between God and earth When I see my rainbow in the clouds This shall be the covenant Between me and all living things Of every kind upon the earth

SOPRANO SOLO/ CHORUS: This shall be the covenant Between God and the earth This shall be the covenant Between God and all living things Of every kind upon the earth.

BARITONE: When God had said and made this promise He went away

CHORUS: “I will leave off such punishment For the time to come”.

Part II - Babel

CHORUS: The children of Noah were three Shem, Japhet and Ham They descended the mountains Into the plains And made them their homes They persuaded others Who feared the lower ground Because of the flood To leave the higher places And to follow their example And the plain in which they first dwelt Was called Shinar.

TENOR SOLO: Now God commanded them To send colonies abroad To people the earth That they might not rise up against Him But might cultivate a great part of the earth To enjoy its fruits And to do His will

CHORUS: But they were ill-advised And did not obey God They imagined their own power Was the cause of their plenty And did not obey Him They did not send out colonies abroad Since they feared that being divided They might more easily be oppressed

BARITONE: Now Nimrod, the mighty warrior

Aroused them to disobey God He provoked them to sedition He turned men away from God To bring dependence on his own power.

And in his days they built a city and a tower saying:

CHORUS: By this tower let us ascend into heaven Come let us make a name for ourselves Lest we be divided and scattered abroad

BARITONE: So they began to build.

(INTERLUDE II: THE BUILDING OF THE TOWER OF BABEL)

CHORUS:

BARITONE:

In the fourth week they made bricks with fire And bricks served them for stone And the clay that cemented them Was asphalt from the sea, And water from the fountains of Shinar. And they built the tower Three and forty years Its breadth - two hundred and three bricks It’s height – five thousand, four hundred and thirty-three cubits and two palms

God saw the city and the tower Which the children of men had built And said:

SOPRANO SOLO/TENOR SOLO/ BARITONE SOLO: They are one people They have one language Nothing they plan to do Will now be impossible for them This is just the beginning I will go down And confuse their language That they may not understand each other’s speech

BARITONE: And He confounded their language So they could not understand each other.

CHORUS: They ceased to build their city So its name was called Babel Because it was there That God confused The language of the earth

(INTERLUDE III: THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TOWER OF BABEL)

He scattered them abroad Over the face of the earth He sent a mighty wind against the tower He overthrew the tower upon the earth

BARITONE: And the children of men dispersed into cities Each according to his language and nation.

The CHORUS sing and speak softly in many languages, dying away to whispers)

Epilogue: God’s Promise To Noah

BARITONE: But Noah was afraid What if God should drown the earth again. And God said:

SOPRANO SOLO/ TENOR SOLO: Go out from the boat with your wife, Your sons and their wives Take all the animals and birds That they might reproduce and spread All over the earth. So Noah went out of the boat His wife, his sons, their wives, And all the animals and birds Went out of the boat In groups of their own kind.

BARITONE SOLO: And Noah built an altar And made him a sacrifice And the sacrifice please the Lord And He said.

SOPRANO SOLO/ TENOR SOLO/ BARTIONE SOLO: Never again will I curse the ground Because of man Never again will I destroy all living things, As I have done.

TUTTI: While earth remains, Seedtime and harvest Cold and heat Summer and winter And day and night Shall never cease

Praise My Soul The King Of Heaven (Words: Henry Francis Lyte)

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; To his feet thy tribute bring; Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, Evermore his praises sing: Alleluia, alleluia!

Father-like, he tends and spares us; Well our feeble frame he knows; In his hand he gently bears us, Rescues us from all our foes. Alleluia, alleluia! Widely yet his mercy flows

Angels, help us to adore him; Ye behold him face to face; Sun and moon, bow down before him, Dwellers all in time and space Alleluia, alleluia!

Praise with us the God of grace Amen.

BABEL

Soprano solo Tenor solo

Baritone solo

SATB Chorus

Percussion 1 (Piatti, Glockenspiel, Triangle, Snare Drum, Tam-tam, Guiro, Xylophone, Bass Drum, Wood Block)

Percussion 2 (Timpani, Triangle, Piatti, Bass Drum, Tam-tam)

Piano Duet

Organ

Duration: 38 mins approx.

Babel was commissioned by The Camden Choir, London, for its fiftieth anniversary. It was first performed in Cadogan Hall, London on March 20th 2022. The soloists were Lorena Paz Nieto (soprano); Mark Le Brocq (tenor) and Stephen Gadd (baritone). It was conducted by the composer.

Cover design “The Confusion of Tongues” by Gustav Doré

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