Listening Recommendation: "Bethlehem" (1915) by Rutland Boughton (1878 - 1960)

scene at Herod's court, from the Glastonbury performance

This one is a real Christmas treat! Adapted from the fourteenth-century Coventry Nativity Play by the English composer Rutland Boughton (often better known for his Druid-opera The Immortal Hour), this little gem of an opera intersects popular Christmas Carols in brilliantly written a-capella partsong with the tale of Mary and Joseph with their child, involving angels, shepherds and wise men, and - of course - King Herod and his court, until their flight to Egypt commences. 

There is no shortage of beautiful musical and melodic invention, as well as a certain amount of irony when depicting the agony of the King's slave chorus. The innocent naivety of the shepherds is also reflected in their simple pastoral tunes, whilst the Three Wise Men sing rather independently a Somerset folksong, a quotation from Boughton's opera The Birth of Arthur and a ragtime-like tune respectively. This is indeed very cleverly done by a man possessing impressive musical craftmanship! The orchestra, too, is of a manageable size making this an opera to be performed in more intimate surroundings. 

Rutland Boughton

Originally written for Boughton's Glastonbury Festival, it could have been another of his great successes was it not for his 1926 performance during the General Strike when depicting the baby Jesus in a miner's cottage and Herod as a top-hatted capitalist. Since this event it is believed that the composer's career never recovered from the subsequent detriments inflicted upon him from within the artistic society.

Luckily, the work was recorded in 1993 under the conductor Alan Melville for the Hyperion label (with the composer's grandson Ian Boughton appearing in a minor role), albeit in a shortened version with the raucous ballet sequence at Herod's court omitted. Whilst the CD is out of print (used copies are generally still available on eBay or Amazon), it can be downloaded via the Hyperion website, iTunes or streamed online. The vocal score had been published by Curwen & sons and is equally out of print with copies still available on eBay or Amazon likewise. My copy had once belonged to a member of the cast at Sadler's Wells, but I am not aware if the opera had ever been staged there. 

cover of the 1993 recording