Premiered in Leeds in 1931 conducted by Malcom Sargent (with a young Benjamin Britten in the audience), the words were selected by Osbert Sitwell from the Book of Daniel and Psalm 137, telling the story of the Babylonian King Belshazzar.
He holds a feast where he uses the sacred vessels of the captive Jews to praise heathen gods. Belshazzar dies, the kingdom falls, and the Jews go free.
It is composed in ten sections, without pauses, with the chorus often representing the Jews throughout. It opens with Psalm 137, reflecting on the captivity of the Jews. A description of Babylon’s riches follows, and then a narration of the Feast.
He takes the vessels his father (Nebuchadnezzar) had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, and praises the gods of gold (brass), silver (saxophones), iron (trumpets and percussion), wood (xylophone and woodblock), stone (slapstick), and brass (two brass bands).
Then appears on the wall the words ‘MENE, MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN’ (you are weight in the balance and found wanting). Belshazzar dies and the kingdom divided. There then follows a joyous eruption of freedom and praise, with a brief pause of lament for the fall of Babylon.
The orchestration is rich with triple woodwind, saxophone, large brass, percussion, harps, piano, organ, strings, a double chorus, a semi-chorus, and, of course, the two brass bands. It ends with the most joyful sounds, and just when you think it’s finished, it hasn’t, and then you think it has, and then a thumping full organ chord comes in.
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