Set out in Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges, it’s one of the Old Testament’s most scandalous and alluring stories.
Samson, an Israelite judge of supernatural strength, is chosen by God to free the Hebrews from their tyrannical Philistine conquerors. Falling in love with the seductive Philistine Dalila, Samson betrays his calling. He confesses to Dalila that the source of his power came from his uncut hair. While he sleeps, Samson is shaved and stripped of his Herculean power. While imprisoned and mocked at the Philistine temple, Samson calls upon God to restore his strength one last time. He pushes down the pillars of the temple, destroying it, and perishing along with thousands of his enemies.
This epic biblical story is the subject of Camille Saint-Saëns’ 1877 grand opera, Samson et Dalila, Op. 47. The Danse bacchanale accompanies a ballet sequence in the final scene of the opera’s third act, preceding Samson’s destruction of the temple. The music begins with exotic sounds from the East as the solo oboe winds its way through a cadenza which rises over a drone. Throughout the scene, set in the temple of Dagon, the triumphant Philistine priests engage in a wild dance of ever-intensifying orgiastic revelry. Woodwinds shriek, trombones and horns are unleashed, the timpani pounds, and there is a flurry of cymbals and castanets. At the opera’s glittering climax, Saint-Saëns provides the most ferocious party music every conceived.
Recordings
- Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila, Op. 47 (Danse bacchanale), Neeme Järvi, Royal Scottish National Orchestra RSNO Discography
Featured Image: “Samson and Delilah”(c. 1630), Anthony van Dyck