Edward Elgar - The Apostles - A Study Guide
Judas’ Scene of Torment
José Ferraz de Almeida Jr., painting of Judas, 1880
While most of Elgar’s text for Part II is drawn from a conflation of the four gospels, there is even less background in the Bible about Judas than about Mary Magdalene. So Elgar again finds diverse, unrelated parts of scripture, especially the psalms, to give voice to the internal struggles of Judas.
Of special interest here is Elgar’s choice of an extended passage from the Wisdom of Solomon (part of the “secondary canon” recognized by the Roman Catholic Church) for the climatic monologue of Judas, “Our life is short and tedious.”
Following the interpretations of some prominent biblical scholars of his time, Elgar sees Judas as an apostle who thinks of himself as being one of the faithful Apostles of Jesus before discovering too late that he is actually an outsider with a very different agenda.
This view sees Judas as a zealot who plotted to turn Jesus over to the authorities in order to create an opportunity for a public display of his miraculous power before a large audience. Such a demonstration would then inevitably lead to Jesus being acclaimed as King of a newly restored and independent Israel.
Judas’s flaw, then, is in his limited and materialistic view of Jesus’ mission, not in a desire to destroy Jesus. Some have speculated that Elgar may have seen in Judas’ materialism his own envy of wealth and need for acceptance by the powers of this world.
Unlike Mary Magdalene, who seeks forgiveness to redeem her from shame, Judas gives himself over to despair and self-destruction. Those who knew the private side of Elgar saw some of this despair in his own personality beneath the “English gentleman” façade he presented to the world, especially after the recent public rejection of his Gerontius premier. In a moment of bitter self-pity after that experience Elgar told his friend Jaeger, “I always said God was against art, and I still believe it.”
Elgar wrote to the priest C.V. Gorton, who had helped him compile the libretto, “To my mind Judas’ crime or sin was despair; not only the betrayal, which was done for a worldly purpose. In these days, when every ”modern” person seems to think “suicide” is the natural way out of everything (Ibsen, etc., etc.) my plan, if explained, may do some good.”
It is worth noting that for this scene of Judas’ torment, the narrator is the female contralto soloist who sang Mary Magdalene in Part I rather than the tenor as earlier. The chorus plays an adversarial role throughout the scene, taunting Judas frequently and adding to his sense of isolation and banishment.
Listen to the scene while following the text below:
(start at 1:28:45 stopping at 1:41:35)
IN THE TEMPLE
Narrator 2 (alto)
Then Judas, which had betrayed Him,
when he saw that He was condemned, repented himself,
and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief Priests and Elders. (Matt. 27:3)
The Singers (within the Temple)
O Lord God, to Whom vengeance belongeth
lift up Thyself, Thou Judge of the earth.
O Lord God, to Whom vengeance belongeth,
render a reward to the proud.
Lord, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked triumph? (Ps 94:1-3)
Judas
My punishment is greater than I can bear. (Gen. 4:13)
The Singers
How long shall they utter and speak hard things? (Ps. 94:4)
and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
Judas
Mine iniquity is greater than can be forgiven.
The Singers
They break in pieces Thy people, O Lord, and afflict Thine heritage. (Ps. 94:5)
The Priests
A voice of trembling, of fear, (Jer. 30:5)
Why art thou so grieved in thy mind?
Judas
I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. (Matt. 27:4)
The Priests
What is that to us? See thou to that.
Judas
I have sinned, I have betrayed the innocent.
The Priests
Selah!
Narrator 2
And he cast down the pieces of silver and departed. (Matt. 27:5)
The Singers
Lord, how long shall the wicked triumph?
Yet they say, The Lord shall not see:
He that planted the ear, shall He not hear?
He that formed the eye, shall He not see? (Ps. 94:3,7,9)
WITHOUT THE TEMPLE
Judas
Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
If I say, Peradventure the darkness shall cover me, then shall my night be turned to day;
yea, the darkness is no darkness with Thee, but the night is as clear as the day. (Ps 139:7,11,12)
Sheol is naked before Thee, and Abaddon hath no covering.
The Singers (within the Temple)
Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, that Thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity ... (Ps. 94:13)
Judas
'Rest from the days of adversity.' Never man spake like this Man; (John 7:46)
He satisfied the longing soul, and filled the hungry soul with goodness. (Ps. 107:9)
The Singers
... until the pit be digged for the wicked. (Ps. 94:13)
Judas
Our life is short and tedious,
and in the death of a man there is no remedy;
neither was there any man known to have returned from the grave.
For we are born at all adventure,
and we shall be hereafter as though we had never been;
for the breath in our nostrils is as smoke,
and a little spark in the moving of our heart,
which being extinguished, our body shall be turned into ashes
and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air
and our name shall be forgotten in time,
and no man have our work in remembrance;
and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud,
and shall be dispersed as a mist,
that is driven away with the beams of the sun,
and overcome with the heat thereof. (Wisdom of Solomon 2:1-4)
The Singers
The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they all are vanity. (Ps. 94:11)
Judas
The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man.'
My hope is like dust that is blown away with the wind;
it is not possible to escape Thine hand -
a sudden fear, and not looked for, comes upon me.
The People (remote)
Crucify Him! (Mark 15:13)
Judas
They gather themselves together and condemn the innocent blood. (Ps. 94:21)
The People
Crucify Him!
Judas
Mine end is come -the measure of my covetousness; (Jer. 51:13)
over me is spread an heavy night,
an image of that darkness which shall afterward receive me:
yet am I unto myself more grievous than the darkness.
The Singers (within the Temple)
He shall bring upon them their own iniquity. (Ps. 94:23)
Questions to ponder:
Even more than the extended scene for Mary Magdalene in Part I, this section represents Elgar’s most personal statement on his understanding of the nature of Christan faith and the human predicament. Long before this oratorio and since, Judas Iscariot has been one of the most troubling figures in the Bible.
In particular, did Judas act of his own volition, or was he carrying out a necessary action about which he had little choice? Was he primarily duplicitous or well-intentioned but seriously mistaken?
What is your understanding of the role of Judas in Jesus’ mission as depicted in the gospel accounts?
What is your understanding of Elgar’s view of Judas’ role, not just from the texts chosen, but from the nature of the music he gives him to sing?
How does Elgar want us to feel about Judas? Identification? Repulsion? Pity? Condemnation?