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Babel is a neoclassical religious cantata composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1944.
The piece is in one movement and has a total duration of about seven minutes. The text used is taken from the Bible verbatim. It is scored for a two-part male chorus, three flutes, a piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, a bass clarinet, two bassoons, a contrabassoon, four French horns, three trumpets, three trombones, a harp, a piano, and a string section. According to some scholars, the piece can be divided into four sections separated by tempo markings, though conductor Robert Craft often described the piece as "a passacaglia in which a fugue serves as one of the variations". Babel follows a neoclassical structure and form, and is a good example of Stravinsky's late neoclassical period.
Contrary to the publisher's wishes, who deemed it more appropriate to entrust God's words to the narrator and leave the story of the construction and destruction of the Tower of Babel for the choir, Stravinsky eventually decided to leave the narrated parts for the narrator and the voice of God for the men's choir, believing that the spoken human voice could not express well God's word. This was recurring for Stravinsky, as he made a clear distinction between the celestials and the terrestrials, intending that "the celestials should sing while the terrestrials should merely talk". He was, therefore, faced with this problem in Abraham and Isaac and The Flood.
Stravinsky liked his own creation, as he claimed he preferred his own compositions performed untranslated, in the original language they were written. He stated: "musically speaking, Babel is a blessing".
- Difficulty:
- Intermediate
- Instrumentation:
- 3Fl 1dPicc, 2Ob, 2Cl, BCl, 2Bsn, Cbsn, 4Hn, 3Tpt, 3Tbn, Timp, Hp, Strings, Narrator (Male), Male Chorus
- Duration:
- 7 minutes
- Set of Parts:
- Includes Strings count 5.5.4.4.3
- Chorus Part / Vocal Score:
- Only available with the purchase of the Set of Parts