Concerts Reviewed June 17, 1947 (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées)

Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher, Arthur Honegger

A great fresco brought to life by one powerful, irresistible breath, this was how Paul Claudel and Arthur Honegger's Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher appeared. It will compose itself before us. To the very dark colors, to the blacks that give depth, will be added bright colors that bring brilliance along with them and light backgrounds that illuminate. A central figure draws our attention. All lines converge toward her. It is Joan. She is atop the pyre, flames encircle her already, she is going to die! At this supreme moment, she sees her entire life flash before her eyes. She remembers … The choir, during the prologue, evoked the shadows that veiled the face of the kingdom, empty and lifeless France. God's will, hovering without knowing where to land in the chaos of hearts and minds. Images now emerge, they are set into motion. Joan descends into the stream of the past. She hears the heavenly voices that called to her. And the voice of Brother Dominique who brought her the book where the angels wrote of her martyrdom. She hears the voices of the earth that hurl insults at her face, those of priests, “no, those beasts,” Dominique says to her, those who are going to judge her. Condemned to burn at the stake, she hears the shouts that rise from Hell. She listens to the bells that once brought her God's message, at Domrémy. At this moment, they are ringing out her death knell. The black woman, Catherine, who sings De Profundis, and the white woman, Marguerite, who chimes in the sky. One day, they said to her, “Joan, daughter of God, go! Go! Go! Bring back the King of France. And it's the kind dauphin. The King who goes to Rheims will reunite France.” “All the hands of France in a single hand.” The joyous songs of the people. The beautiful curves of Gregorian chant. The fanfares of the royal march. His exultation to her: “It is I, it is I who has done all this,” while in the background the sinister tribunal's “heretic, witch, reprobate” begin again.