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Burning Fiery Furnace: Score
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218 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1966
About the author
Benjamin Britten
379 books6 followersEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, was an English composer, conductor, and pianist.
Britten's interests as a composer were wide-ranging; he produced important music in such varied genres as orchestral, choral, solo vocal, chamber and instrumental, as well as film music. He also took a great interest in writing music for children and amateur performers, and was a fine pianist and conductor.
Britten's interests as a composer were wide-ranging; he produced important music in such varied genres as orchestral, choral, solo vocal, chamber and instrumental, as well as film music. He also took a great interest in writing music for children and amateur performers, and was a fine pianist and conductor.
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April 10, 2016
4. Burning Fiery Furnace – Libretto
William Plomer in this libretto uses a famous and common episode of the Old Testament (Daniel 3) to build his story in his own poetical style. The fact that he uses three Israelites in this story is not significant since it cannot be anything else. It is the trinity of God from the Christian point of View, but before that it was the trinity that became the symbol of wisdom of Judaism, I mean Jewish wisdom, Solomon’s wisdom, when doubled to six, when that six is twice three, David’s star.
What is essential from my point of view in this tale is the status of foreigner of these three wise Jewish men, because they have to be wise. They are foreigners in Babylon and as such are treated very badly, in an unacceptable way from their Jewish point of view. First their Jewish names, three of course, are replaced by three Sumerian names, which is highly unacceptable. Second they are requested to drink wine and to eat meat that are certainly not kosher and they refuse. And finally, third request, they are supposed to worship a Sumerian god represented in a golden statue, which goes against Mosaic law that forbids any icon, any material representation of God, and certainly not made of gold (the golden calf of course).
So they have to be sacrificed and thrown into a burning furnace. But from three they turn to four since an angel gets to them and protects them. Miracle, miracle, when you believe they seem and sound natural if not even logical. But it is a good story, especially since four is not basically Jewish. It is basically Christian and represents the crucifixion which brings salvation. Salvation through the ordeal of a symbolical death. Jesus is lucky after all. Dying on the cross was like being reborn and humanity with him.
This Christian symbolism read into the Jewish tale is typical of the Christian reading of the Old Testament in the Middle Ages: Systematic triptychs were built with a reference in the Old Testament, an episode in the life of Jesus and then a third element widening the approach. For example the first choir tapestry of La Chaise Dieu (15th century) is cut in three sections, each section being a triptych, thus building a triptych of triptychs: And most of these tapestries have the same structure.
FIRST TAPESTRY
1- Left triptych
In the middle: The Annunciation
On the left: Eve facing the snake; God announces a Savior
On the right: The dew, miraculously, falls over Gideon’s fleece
2- Middle triptych
In the middle: The Nativity
On the left: The blazing bush: God discloses his name to Moses
On the right: Aaron’s blossomed rod
3- Right triptych
In the middle: The Epiphany
On the left: Three brave warriors bring water from besieged Bethlehem to King David
On the right: The Queen of Sheba sees Salomon’s wisdom
(http://www.abbaye-chaise-dieu.com/-Qu..., accessed April 10, 2016)
The miracle will cause the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar to Judaism. But to come back to the status of foreigner of these Jews, the text is clear that the Jews are foreigners in Babylon, but from the Jewish point of view the Babylonians are the foreigners. The moral of the story is that people can finally understand one another when they just listen to the others, respect the others and do not try to impose their ways onto the others. Unluckily the Biblical story has a flaw since this mutual respect is negated in and by the conversion of the king. It is mutual respect maybe, but not reciprocal since it leads to the negation of one side.
But it is true the Librettist goes very far in this ternary symbolism. Consider the following declaration of the King:
NEBUCHADNEZZAR:
Ah! Heat the burning fiery furnace!
Heat the furnace! Heat the furnace!
Three “heat,” there “furnace,” plus the ternary “burning fiery furnace” with three words that mean exactly the same thing or at least refer to the same thing, “fire.” The two triplets, “heat” and “furnace,” could build David’s star or Solomon’s number, wisdom in other words, but this double triplet contains in its very core another triplet that makes the whole structure jump to nine, the most dramatic and ill-fated number of Christianity, the hour when Jesus dies, the ninth hour, the number of the beast and the dragon of the Apocalypse, the Apocalypse itself that comes just after the second coming, represented by eight which is nothing but a standing omega, the end of time.
The last chorus of the opera with each line starting with “O” is a rich numerical symbolic passage (10 “bless,” 13 “O” + 1 opening “O” from the Acolytes, hence 14 or twice seven and seven is essential for Nebuchadnezzar and could refer to the seven climes of the children and descendants of Ishmael, one of the two sons of Abraham, descendants who are called Arabs in the Old Testament, 23 addressees to which each request to “bless the Lord” are directed. But the most striking formula is “Bless ye the Lord, Praise him and Magnify Him for ever.” Double triplet again with the three verbs and the three designations of God. But this phrase is repeated three times in this final chorus, and that will lead to 3 “bless,” 3 “praise,” 3 “magnify,” thus leading to nine requests. When you add the other “bless” of this chorus you reach 16 requests, twice eight, twice the end of time, twice omega, twice the second coming, if that is not the symbol of the Messianic Jerusalem, of the conversion of the pagan king, of the salvation of the world in the unifying vision of Jesus contained in this tale, what is?
You may believe or not, that’s not the point. The point is that the poetry of this libretto is extremely rich in Jewish and Christian symbolism and then we can wonder what Benjamin Britten can do with this poetry by turning it into music, since music is basically tempo and rhythm.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
William Plomer in this libretto uses a famous and common episode of the Old Testament (Daniel 3) to build his story in his own poetical style. The fact that he uses three Israelites in this story is not significant since it cannot be anything else. It is the trinity of God from the Christian point of View, but before that it was the trinity that became the symbol of wisdom of Judaism, I mean Jewish wisdom, Solomon’s wisdom, when doubled to six, when that six is twice three, David’s star.
What is essential from my point of view in this tale is the status of foreigner of these three wise Jewish men, because they have to be wise. They are foreigners in Babylon and as such are treated very badly, in an unacceptable way from their Jewish point of view. First their Jewish names, three of course, are replaced by three Sumerian names, which is highly unacceptable. Second they are requested to drink wine and to eat meat that are certainly not kosher and they refuse. And finally, third request, they are supposed to worship a Sumerian god represented in a golden statue, which goes against Mosaic law that forbids any icon, any material representation of God, and certainly not made of gold (the golden calf of course).
So they have to be sacrificed and thrown into a burning furnace. But from three they turn to four since an angel gets to them and protects them. Miracle, miracle, when you believe they seem and sound natural if not even logical. But it is a good story, especially since four is not basically Jewish. It is basically Christian and represents the crucifixion which brings salvation. Salvation through the ordeal of a symbolical death. Jesus is lucky after all. Dying on the cross was like being reborn and humanity with him.
This Christian symbolism read into the Jewish tale is typical of the Christian reading of the Old Testament in the Middle Ages: Systematic triptychs were built with a reference in the Old Testament, an episode in the life of Jesus and then a third element widening the approach. For example the first choir tapestry of La Chaise Dieu (15th century) is cut in three sections, each section being a triptych, thus building a triptych of triptychs: And most of these tapestries have the same structure.
FIRST TAPESTRY
1- Left triptych
In the middle: The Annunciation
On the left: Eve facing the snake; God announces a Savior
On the right: The dew, miraculously, falls over Gideon’s fleece
2- Middle triptych
In the middle: The Nativity
On the left: The blazing bush: God discloses his name to Moses
On the right: Aaron’s blossomed rod
3- Right triptych
In the middle: The Epiphany
On the left: Three brave warriors bring water from besieged Bethlehem to King David
On the right: The Queen of Sheba sees Salomon’s wisdom
(http://www.abbaye-chaise-dieu.com/-Qu..., accessed April 10, 2016)
The miracle will cause the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar to Judaism. But to come back to the status of foreigner of these Jews, the text is clear that the Jews are foreigners in Babylon, but from the Jewish point of view the Babylonians are the foreigners. The moral of the story is that people can finally understand one another when they just listen to the others, respect the others and do not try to impose their ways onto the others. Unluckily the Biblical story has a flaw since this mutual respect is negated in and by the conversion of the king. It is mutual respect maybe, but not reciprocal since it leads to the negation of one side.
But it is true the Librettist goes very far in this ternary symbolism. Consider the following declaration of the King:
NEBUCHADNEZZAR:
Ah! Heat the burning fiery furnace!
Heat the furnace! Heat the furnace!
Three “heat,” there “furnace,” plus the ternary “burning fiery furnace” with three words that mean exactly the same thing or at least refer to the same thing, “fire.” The two triplets, “heat” and “furnace,” could build David’s star or Solomon’s number, wisdom in other words, but this double triplet contains in its very core another triplet that makes the whole structure jump to nine, the most dramatic and ill-fated number of Christianity, the hour when Jesus dies, the ninth hour, the number of the beast and the dragon of the Apocalypse, the Apocalypse itself that comes just after the second coming, represented by eight which is nothing but a standing omega, the end of time.
The last chorus of the opera with each line starting with “O” is a rich numerical symbolic passage (10 “bless,” 13 “O” + 1 opening “O” from the Acolytes, hence 14 or twice seven and seven is essential for Nebuchadnezzar and could refer to the seven climes of the children and descendants of Ishmael, one of the two sons of Abraham, descendants who are called Arabs in the Old Testament, 23 addressees to which each request to “bless the Lord” are directed. But the most striking formula is “Bless ye the Lord, Praise him and Magnify Him for ever.” Double triplet again with the three verbs and the three designations of God. But this phrase is repeated three times in this final chorus, and that will lead to 3 “bless,” 3 “praise,” 3 “magnify,” thus leading to nine requests. When you add the other “bless” of this chorus you reach 16 requests, twice eight, twice the end of time, twice omega, twice the second coming, if that is not the symbol of the Messianic Jerusalem, of the conversion of the pagan king, of the salvation of the world in the unifying vision of Jesus contained in this tale, what is?
You may believe or not, that’s not the point. The point is that the poetry of this libretto is extremely rich in Jewish and Christian symbolism and then we can wonder what Benjamin Britten can do with this poetry by turning it into music, since music is basically tempo and rhythm.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Displaying 1 of 1 review