Oratorium (1831) nach Bildern der Bibel

“Cantate for the Dead of the Cholera Epidemic 1831” for solos, four-part mixed choir and orchestra (45′)
(Elke Mascha Blankenburg)

First publication

Instrumentation: 2.2.2.-2.2.3.0, timp, strings

The oratorio is the third of the church music works written in rapid succession in 1831; it is larger in scale than the preceding cantatas: 5 to 8-part choral movements, expansion of the sound apparatus to include three trombones. Again Fanny Hensel stretches the arc back, this time to pre-baroque times, thus achieving an additional dimension of her individual tonal language. Modal harmonic patterns sometimes create an “archaic” atmosphere for biblical words.