Richard Reed Parry: Judith – London Mozart Players

Introduction. Allegro spiritoso –
Act I Scene 1. Moloch
Processional Music of Worshippers.
Manasseh: ‘Draw near and worship, O my people!’.
Chorus: ‘Have mercy, dread Moloch’.
High Priest: ‘Hear ye, the word of your God!’.
Chorus: ‘Hail, thou art highly favoured, King!’.
Chorus: ‘Bring now the children!’.
High Priest: ‘Hearken, O king’.
Chorus: ‘Hail, Maloch, hail!’.
Scene 2: The Children
Dialogue.
Meshullemeth and Children: ‘ Long since in Egypt’s plenteous land’.
Chorus: ‘Great Queen! The King calls for his children’.
Judith: ‘Lady! Thou Queen of Israel!’
Scene 3: The Sacrifice
Chorus of Priests: ‘Moloch, give ear!’.
Judith: ‘Stay your hideous mockeries!’.
Judith: ‘Now shall the Lord Jehovah visit you’.
Chorus: ‘Who is this that raileth at Moloch?’.
Messenger: ‘O King, give ear!’.
Manasseh: ‘Fear not, my people’.
Finale. The Coming of the Assyrians
Chorus: ‘The host of Assur is like a swarm of locusts’.
Judith: ‘Jerusalem was loved of the Lord’.
Chorus: ‘Moloch! Moloch! Hear us now’.
Chorus: ‘Fly! The host of Assur is come on us’.
Chorus: ‘Jerusalem, that was Queen of the nations’.
Intermezzo. Babylon. The Repentance of Manasseh
Act II Scene 1. The Return of Manasseh
Maestoso. Sostenuto espressivo –
Meshullemeth: ‘The Lord is song-suffering and merciful’.
Chorus: ‘Our king is come again from distant lands’.
Manasseh: ‘Behold, how great is the mercy of our God’.
Scene 2. The Message of Holofernes
Messenger: ‘Hear ye the words of the captain of the great King’.
Chorus: ‘Woe! Our city’s walls are broken’.
Judith: ‘Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God’.
Judith: ‘ I pray Thee, O God of my fathers’.
Chorus: ‘The God of our fathers give thee favour’.
Scene 3. The Exploit of Judith
Chorus: ‘See ye the campfires of the host of Assur’.
Judith: ‘Ho! ye upon the walls’.
Chorus: ‘Arise, O Israel! Smite ye your enemies’.
Manasseh: ‘God breaketh the battle’.
Finale
Judith: ‘I will sing unto the Lord’.
Chorus: ‘Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning’.

Sarah Fox, Toby Spence, Kathryn Rudge, Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players, William Vann

Reference: 1552682123434
Barcode: 0095115526828
Length: 2:10:53
Label: Chandos