Judas Maccabaeus is an oratorio in three acts composed in
1746 by George Frederic Handel based on a libretto written by Thomas Morell.
The oratorio was devised as a compliment to the victorious Prince William
Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, upon his return from the Battle of Culloden (16
April 1746). Morell's libretto is based on the deuterocanonical 1 Maccabees
(2-8), with motives added from the Antiquitates Judaicae by Flavius Josephus. Handel's
music depicts the changing moods of the Jewish people as their fortunes vary
from dejection to jubilation.
(As a Celt I may have a problem with Handel’s motive in
writing this oratorio, but as a Musician I can only be thankful he did.)
The events depicted in the oratorio are from the period
170-160 BC when Judea was ruled by the Seleucid Empire which undertook to
destroy the Jewish religion. Being ordered to worship Zeus, many Jews obeyed
under the threat of persecution; however, some did not. One who defied was the
elderly priest Mattathias who killed a fellow Jew who was about to offer a
pagan sacrifice. After tearing down a pagan altar, Mattathias retreated to the
hills gathering others who were willing to fight for their faith. Although a Jewish
guerrilla leader ,Judas Maccabeus (son of Mattathias) was a hero of the people
and considered to have succeeded in preserving the Jewish religion.
The usual words now sung are by Edmond Budry (1854-1932). Budry was a
Swiss hymn writer best known for writing
the lyrics to the hymn "Thine Be the Glory" ("À toi la gloire")
to music from Judas Maccabaeus by Handel.
Budry studied theology in Lausanne and was pastor at Cully
and Sainte-Croix between 1881 and 1889. He then became pastor of the Free
Church in Vevey for a further 35 years. Besides writing original hymns, he
translated German, English, and Latin lyrics into French. Budry wrote "A Toi la Gloire," in 1884, reportedly after the death of his
first wife, Marie de Vayenborg. It was first published in Switzerland, 1885, being
later translated into English in 1925 by Richard B. Hoyle, for the Cantate
Domino Hymnal (hymnal of the World Student Christian Federation).
It is possible that an Advent hymn by Friedrich-Heinrich
Ranke (1798-1876), using the same tune by Handel, and published in
Evangelisches Gesangbuch fur Elsass-Lothringern, could have been the basis for
"Thine Be the Glory."
Thine Be The Glory
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
Endless is the victory, Thou o’er death hast won;
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave clothes where Thy body lay.
Thine is the glory, risen
conqu’ring Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er
death hast won.
Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
Lovingly He greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
Let the church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing;
For her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.
Thine is the glory, risen conqu’ring
Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er
death hast won.
No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of life;
Life is naught without Thee; aid us in our strife;
Make us more than conqu’rors, through Thy deathless love:
Bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above.
Thine is the glory, risen
conqu’ring Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er
death hast won.
Sources:
Wikipedia
Encyclopaedia Britannica
