Jonah: Cantata/ Oratorio, Orchestra Accompaniment, Conductor Score

Samuel Felsted (1743-1802) composed Jonah, his only known oratorio, in Jamaica probably in 1773-1774 while serving as organist of St. Andrew Parish Church at Half-Way Tree; Felsted himself described it as his "first attempt at composition," and it was published in London in 1775 by Longman, Lukey & Broderip through a subscription supported by more than 240 individuals. Based on the biblical Book of Jonah, the compact work recounts God's command that Jonah preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, Jonah's attempt to flee by sea, the violent storm and his being cast overboard and swallowed by the great fish, his prayer and deliverance, and his eventual obedience in carrying God's warning to Nineveh; rather than presenting the story through operatic dialogue, Felsted employs narration, solo arias and choruses in a style indebted to eighteenth-century English and Italian oratorio traditions and particularly suggestive of Handel. The circumstances of its earliest performance are uncertain: recent scholarship notes that documentation for a Jamaican premiere has not survived, although an early Jamaican hearing has traditionally been dated to 1779; the work subsequently reached North America, where performances are documented in the late 1780s, including a complete performance in Boston on December 2, 1789, shortly after a projected performance associated with George Washington's visit had been postponed because of influenza among the singers. Historically, Jonah is especially significant as the earliest known surviving complete oratorio composed in the Western Hemisphere, making the Jamaican-born Felsted an important figure in the history of Western art music in the Caribbean and the Americas. After nearly two centuries of obscurity, the work was rediscovered by scholars and musicians in the late twentieth century and returned prominently to Jamaica with a performance at St. Andrew Parish Church on November 26, 1990; today it remains a rarity rather than a standard choral work, but performances, recordings, modern editions, and continuing scholarly attention have given Jonah an increasingly recognized place in the history of Caribbean and early American concert music. Instrumentation: 1.1.1.1: 2.0.0.0: Str (4.4.3.3.3 in set): Solo ST: Mix Chorus. This 1988 edition is by musicologist David P. McKay. The vocal score is available in the LudwigMasters catalog (W110191).