Rejoice in the Lamb

Committed to a mental asylum, 18th-century English poet Christopher Smart wrote the extraordinary Jubilate Agno—an ecstatic, idiosyncratic celebration of God as found in language, nature, man and “every Creature in which is the breath of Life”, right down to his own cat, Jeoffrey. In Benjamin Britten’s hands, this unwieldy poem becomes a choral masterpiece: a 15-minute cantata bursting with freshness, tenderness and invention. Rejoice in the Lamb (1943) for chorus, organ and four soloists opens with a musical incantation—the chorus chant in unison on a single pitch—which soon gives way to a syncopated dance of delight (“Let Nimrod, the mighty hunter”) as the poet summons Old Testament figures to join the praises. This concludes with a restrained yet joyous and processional starting with the words “Hallelujah for the heart of God”. Three solo movements supply a witty, contrasting sequence: a solo treble hymns Jeoffrey, while underneath the organ writhes and winds itself into trilling feline ecstasy; an alto becomes a heroic (and ever so slightly pompous) mouse, “a creature of great personal valour”; then the tenor’s legato lines summon the gentle spirituality of flowers. The atmospheric seventh movement “For I am under” sees Smart confronting terror—of Christ’s suffering and his own—in a chilling choral drama, before the work reaches its climax in the giddy celebration of music “For the instruments”. We close with a reprise of “Hallelujah”: an affirmation of order that finally brings resolution to Smart’s quirky visions.