Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher
Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (Joan of Arc at the Stake) is an oratorio by Arthur Honegger, originally commissioned by Ida Rubinstein. It was set to a libretto by Paul Claudel. The work lasts approximately 80 minutes. It premiered on 12 May 1938 in Basel, with Rubinstein as Jeanne, and Jean Périer in the speaking role of Brother Dominique, with the Basel Boys Choir singing the children's chorus part, and Paul Sacher conducting. The drama takes place during Joan of Arc's last minutes on the stake, with flashbacks to her trial and her younger days. Honegger called his work a "dramatic oratorio", adding speaking roles and actors. The work has an important part for the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument, which was played at the premiere by its inventor Maurice Martenot. Claudel's dramatic frame provided Honegger with a space – between heaven and earth, past and present – where he could mix styles from the popular to the sublime. A hybrid work: partly oratorio and partly opera, Honegger uses all his musical means, monody, harmony and counterpoint to build towards sculpted blocks of sound. Performance history At its première in Basel the piece was an immediate success, with critics almost