Te Deum (Berlioz)

Background and premiere#

The Te Deum was originally conceived as the climax of a grand symphony celebrating Napoleon Bonaparte III., Some of the material used by Berlioz in the piece was originally written for his Messe Solennelle of 1824, thought to have been destroyed by the composer but rediscovered in 1991. The first performance of the work was on 30 April 1855, at the Church of Saint-Eustache, Paris; Berlioz conducted an ensemble of 900 or 950 performers.

Orchestration#

The choral movements of the Te Deum are scored for: * 4 flutes * 4 oboes (one doubling on cor anglais) * 4 clarinets (one doubling on bass clarinet) * 4 bassoons * 4 horns * 2 trumpets * 2 cornets * 6 trombones * 2 ophicleides/tubas * timpani * 4 tenor drums * bass drum * 5 cymbals * tenor solo * 2 large 3-part (STB) mixed choirs * 1 large unison children’s choir * Strings * 12 harps * Organ There are differences in the orchestration of the non-choral movements. The Prelude calls for a piccolo and 6 snare drums, while the March requires a Saxhorn and 12 harps.

List of movements#

Apart from the rarely performed or recorded orchestral Prelude and Marche pour la présentation aux drapeaux (March for the presentation of the colours), there are six movements to this Te Deum, designated by Berlioz as either hymns (Hymne) or prayers (Prière), except for the last movement which he designated as both. These are listed below: When performed, the Prelude falls between the Tibi omnes and Dignare; the Marche usually comes after the Judex crederis.

Reception#

After the first performance in London, in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, The Times commented: Anton Bruckner, who wrote his own Te Deum in the early 1880s, criticised Berlioz’s setting for being too secular, while Camille Saint-Saëns argued that it was well-suited for performance in church. The second movement, Tibi omnes, was performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Philharmonia Choir, and select members of the Sing 2001 children’s choir to accompany the lighting of the Olympic cauldron in the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Recordings#

The recordings conducted by Eliahu Inbal and John Nelson include the two sections usually omitted: the Prelude and the Marche pour la présentation aux drapeaux

External links#

• Overview of the Te Deum including history and an analysis of the movements
• Discussion and table of Berlioz’s self-borrowings, including the two in the Te Deum