Jan Dismas Zelenka: Il serpente di bronzo

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Il serpente di bronzo ZWV 61was composed in 1730, the Cantata sacra Il serpente di bronzo was first performed on Good Friday of the same year in Dresden. The libretto to Il serpente di bronzo with its dramatic rendering of biblical narratives is a work steeped in the tradition of Italian oratoria. While the source story only refers to an exchange between God, Moses and Izraelites, the Dresden court poet Stefano Benedetto Pallavicini (1672-1742) added three more characters (Azariah, Egla and Namuel) to make a succinct tale. Following the introductory chorus with the people cursing their tribulations in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, Azariah and Egla long for a return to Egypt and complain of their miserable lot. Provoked into wrath by their blasphemies, God floods their camp with thousands of snakes. Faced with imminent death, the people step up their lamentation and penitence to a point where Moses starts praying for the Lord´s forgiveness. In response, God invites Moses to cast a serpent of bronze and lift it up for everybody to see. Whoever is bitten and takes a look at this effigy shall be saved. After a „change of scene“, Egla mourns at the fate of her dying baby son until Azariah comes with the good news of possible salvation. Before the work can come to an end, Moses points to the cross of Christ, of which the lifting up of the serpent is an archetype (John 3, 14) and which helps save all mankind. Unusual in an Italian oratorio but almost inevitable in the dramatisation of this story are the two appearances of God as a talking person. Similarly, the whole concept of this work - with no overture but with double choruses at the opening and in conclusion - differs from the customary norms of this musical form.