University of Virginia Library

Vacillations

King David, which is scored for
soloists, chorus, and an ensemble of
brass, woodwind, and percussion
instruments with piano, organ, and
celesta, was written in less than six
weeks, and, since Honneger did not
compose with the great assurance
of Handel or Mozart, for example,
the work shows many signs of the
haste with which it was set down.
King David lacks unity of style: it
vacillates between tonality and
atonality and is highly derivative in
places, with veiled references to
Lutheran chorale tunes, a Bach
Cantata chorus, and even the
Mendelssohn Wedding March,
Nevertheless, there are some
marvelous moments in the score —
"The Incantation of the Witch of
Endor", "The Dance before the
Ark," and "The Death of David."

Donald Loach works wonders
with this disappointing
composition. His strong overview of
King David and the momentum
created by his generally brisk tempi
managed to obscure a good deal of
the fragmentation of the score that
is caused by the spoken narration.
Mr. Loach was assisted by first rate
soloists, and particular praise goes
to David Ward, who spoke the
narration with precisely the right
combination of dignity and
emotion, and to Marie Boyle, who
"stole the show" with her
characterization of the Witch of
Endor.

The chorus sang with clarity,
feeling, and an assuredness which
demonstrated a thorough
knowledge of the score. I was
particularly impressed by the
lightness of the female voices; there
was absolutely no trace of that
noxious flute-like warble that often
plagues women's choruses.