The Cavalier daily :: Thursday, December 10, 1970 :: University of Virginia Library

In the spaces between
traditional holiday music and the
weather reports, the radio stations
are playing cuts from an LP about
the most controversial figure of the
last two thousand years.

Released in the United States in
November, just in time for
Christmas. "Jesus Christ,
Superstar" may prove to be the
most controversial album for the
next several years.

Following the last week of Jesus
of Nazareth through his crucifixion,
the two-record album is a
contemporary paraphrase, in
operatic form, of the Gospels.
According to the composer and the
librettist, Andrew Lloyd Webber
and Time Rice. "Jesus Christ,
Superstar" is their interpretation of
the Passion and Death of Christ,
without any intentional
editorializing.

Criticism

Because of its subject matter,
the album is going to receive a lot
of criticism, both about its music
and its meaning. It is being played
now in American Churches, and has
reviews from Time
magazine and Newsweek.

Hopefully, no one will say that
the two young Englishmen are
irreverent, for both the album cover
and the small libretto booklet are
unpretentious. The text of the
Bible is carefully studied, and the
result is a serious attempt to put
the story into the language and
music of the 1970's.

The language is fresh, coining
words and using phrases that are
current. The title, 'Superstar,"
replaces Messiah; the Sudduan.
council talks of "Jesusmania" and
"John and his baptism thing." Mary
Magdalene warns Jesus not to "turn
on to" his problems. Even the
Choir, in traditional harmony, sings
"Well done, Judas."

Because the language is more
modern than the New English
Bible, much less the King James
Version, some worried Christian
traditionalists may find ambiguities
in several of the character
portrayals.

Judas As Hero

For instance. Judas asks many
questions and seems, in many ways,
the hero of "Superstar." The
relationship between Jesus and
Mary Magdalene is not completely
clear. And Jesus in his self-analysis
often sounds more "the misguided
martyr" (Pilate) than he does the
Son of God.

There is definite skepticism,
though, for there are many
questions in the libretto. The
Chorus asks continually: "Jesus
Christ. Superstar/ Do you think
you're what they say you are?"

No doubt the music will receive
much criticism. Some expected it
to be all rock, and it is not. It is not
even original music; but neither is it
boring. Webber is greatly influenced
by other works: themes from
"Peter and the Wolf" "Man of La
Mancha," Hair. "Batman," and
"The Messiah" are all
recognizable. However the music
is not borrowed to the point of
stealing, because Webber puts his
own touch to it There are five or
six main themes that he uses, and
he changes their speed, their
accompaniment, and their tempo
according to where they appear in
the story.

Mary

For instance, one of Mary
Magdalene's lyrical tunes later
becomes part of Jesus' conversation
with the Apostles. A minor broken
chord sung by the Moneylenders in
the temple is the same tune used by
the crowd taunting Jesus in the
Garden of Gethsemane.

The rest of the music is for voice
and instrument: song. The music is
very singable. Even after hearing
"Superstar" only once one can
remember some of the tunes and
some of the words. The words can
be understood because their
structure fits the music. More
important however, is the fact that
the music is appropriate to the
meaning of the words. Webber and
Rice's abilities to combine their
fields, and their knowledge of the
human voice give them power over
the emotions of the listener.

Solos Effective

The solos are used effectively
throughout. Mary Magdalene sings a
beautifully simple tune about Jesus'
effect on her: "I don't know how
to love him . . . I don't see why he
moves me." Later Judas sings the
exact same passage. The tenderness
of both the male and the female
voices is transmitted to the listener
so he, too, feels Jesus' charisma.

Herod's mocking ragtime song
to Jesus shows his disdain for 'Mr.
Wonderful Christ" and at the same
time brings out some guilt-feelings
about some well-worn jokes about
Christ. The parts assigned to Pilate,
however, show the torture of his
role as having to sentence Jesus
there is quiet guitar and voice in his
'Dream Song' and a frustrated
screaming when he washes his
hands of the 'innocent puppet."

Judas' songs range from
confident rock in the beginning to
grief-stricken wailing before his
suicide. His betrayal is sung to
Indian music to give it an unreal
quality, perhaps to show that he
was not himself at the time.

Jesus' lyrics and music move
between rage and resignation - and
often in the same song. For
instance, when he kicks the
moneylenders out of the temple he
changes from a high-pitched soul
scream to a trembling tenor. One of
Christ's most difficult sections to
sing is his prayer in the Garden. He
has to change style and mood every
two or three lines and break from
and electric wall back to a soft
hymn.

Group Singing

The group singing is used just as
effectively. There are specific
groups, such as the Apostles or the
Sadduccean Council. And then
there is the Crowd, the Mob.

The Mob goes from choral
idolizing in "Hosanna Heysanna
Sanna Sanna Ho" to incriminating
shouting in "Crucify Him." They
are artfully juxtaposed with the
sinister debate of the Council of
Priests. And later as reporters in
the Garden, they heap questions on
Jesus, not even finishing one
musical line before jump cutting to
the next.

The Apostles' faults are shown
in their singing, especially during
the Last Supper, where they fade
out in drunken oblivion of what is
going to happen to their leader.

Human

Not only are the Apostles made
to seem human, but Rice and
Webber make sure that all of the
characters seem plausible. Calaphas,
the high priest admits that 'Jesus
is cool." Judas is afraid of going in
the history books as the one who
killed a great man. And Jesus, too,
becomes sarcastic during the Last
Supper', 'For all you care this wine
could be my blood.'

Because of this the question
will arise as to whether Webber and
Rice are saying that Christ was
human, and not divine. Both Mary
Magdalene and Judas sing: "He's a
man he's just a man." Jesus, in
answer to "Are you the king?" says
"You say that I am." Yet their
build-up to the Crucifixion (a full
orchestra with the sound effect of
the thirty nine lashes) and Jesus'
traditional last words (with a
strangely inhuman synthesized
accompaniment) are indications of
his ascension beyond man.

It is true that 'Superstar" leaves
out a very large part of Christ's life,
the Resurrection. Maybe later the
composers will follow with 'The
Comeback." But what is important
now is that they followed the
Gospel . . . faithfully. And they also
asked question about it. Judas'
voice returns at the end, wanting to
know what everyman wants to
know: "Tell me what you think
about your friends at the top/
Who'd you think besides yourself
the pick of the crop?/ Buddha was
he where it's at? Is he where you
are?/ Could Mahomet move a
mountain or was that just PR?"

Parallels

Added to the religious
questioning in the record is the
obvious 20th century parallel with
the folk-leader of a college campus.

The combination of a
contemporary and an historical
subject, talent in musical
composition and libretto, and the
return to the operatic form
using the voices and style of the
"rock generation' has made
"Superstar" successful.

And if its appeal does not last
long, if its music goes out of style,
at least it has started a lot of people
reading and re-reading the New
Testament. Which means that it was
well worth Webber and Rice's time.

The record, produced by Decca
(DXSA 7206), has a playing time of
87 minutes, 16 seconds. The cast is
as follows:

Judas	Murray Head
Jesus	Ian Gillan (of Deep Purple)
Mary M	Yvonne Elliman
Pilate	Barry Demen
Herod	Mike d Abo