The Bacchanale from "Samson and Delilah" Op. 47

This week I had the opportunity to listen to the Minnesota Orchestra perform a lively and illustrative piece of music from the grand opera, Samson and Delilah, composed by Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921), the French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. This opera was first performed in 1877, having three acts and four scenes. The particular part of the opera that I listened to is called the Bacchanale, which is a “dramatic musical composition” that usually occurs during a scene of great action, chaos and uproar. To better understand the description of the music that I will depict here in writing, it may be helpful to read a summary of this scene first.

Act 3, Scene 2: In the Temple of Dagon

A musical interlude is played as the scene changes to the temple of Dagon, where the Philistines are preparing a sacrifice to commemorate their victory. The priests and priestesses of Dagon sing softly, reprising the song to spring from Act One. The music turns savage as the priests dance a wild Bacchanale. Following the dance, Samson enters led by a boy. He is ridiculed by the High Priest and the crowd. Delilah taunts Samson further by recounting to him the details of her devious plot in a variant of her love song. When the priests try to force him to kneel before Dagon, he asks the boy to lead him to the two main pillars of the temple. Samson prays to God to restore his strength, and pulls down the pillars and the temple with them, crushing himself and his enemies. The curtain falls.

The scene begins with one wind instrument, most likely a bassoon, playing a series of notes that have no distinct melody, but go progressively up and down the diatonic scale using both half and whole note intervals. At the same time, there is an underlying deep pitch provided by another wind instrument, portraying the scene as ominous. There is a cadence in the music, directly followed by a long crescendo of string and wind instruments, playing higher pitches as the dynamic grows louder. The lightness and swiftness of the notes being played along with the increased tempo depicts the priests and priestesses of Dagon singing. Once the bacchanale begins, the instruments are found playing in a minor key on the diatonic scale. As the scene becomes much more ominous, there is a great crescendo of all of the instruments, especially the percussion instruments, which add a decisively rhythmic and booming effect to the scene.

At this point in the music, a theme is introduced that will be repeated several times before the scene ends. Once the whole orchestra finishes the theme, the dynamic changes to a mezzo-forte while a wind instrument plays a distinct series of pitches going up and down a modal scale. This, along with the deep tones of the percussion instruments playing in the background, give the music a Middle-Eastern and serious sound. The theme is repeated, and now instruments with lower ranges begin playing quickly up and down a diatonic scale as the wind instruments continue to play a series of higher pitches.

The scene changes once again and the string instruments begin to play a beautiful waltz in a triple meter adagio, or, slowly and expressively. The wind instruments are playing in the background, giving accents to the off-beats of the music. This technique pronounces the beat and triple meter as well as the waltz itself. The strings change dynamics very frequently from forte to piano, pulling back and then pushing forward, which also gives accents to the beats of the music. This waltz section ends with a modulation of key, leaving the music on an anticipatory note.

Finally, the horns and trombone begin playing the theme once again in a simple duple meter, crescendoing up to a fortissimo. The theme in a minor key is repeated several times, while the music modulates up and down frequently, making the scene sound chaotic and intense. The percussion instruments gradually crescendo, while each instrument builds on top of the next. The music reaches its loudest point and ultimately resolves on a major chord, which counters the sound of the minor key that was previously being played. Samson’s prayer to God and his destruction of the pagan temple is portrayed very well through the Bacchanale. This beautiful opera of Camille Saint-Saens depicts an intriguing story by means of music.