Jonah: Music

Classical Music

From Giacomo Carissimi’s classical oratorio to Jack Perla’s 21^st c. opera, Jonah has never ceased to inspire great composers.

Oratorios

• Giacomo Carissimi (1605–1674), Jonas.

1. Symphonia 2. Cum repleta 3. Surge, surge Jona 4. Audivit Jonas 5. Et cum processisset 6. Et praeliabantur venti 7. Dii magni 8. Jonas autem 9. Quid tu sopore deprimeris? 10. Venite, venite 11. Miserunt ergo sortem 12. Indica nobis 13. Hebraeus ego sum 14. Quid faciemus tibi 15. Tollite me 16. Tulerunt nautae Jonam 17. Et preparavit Dominus 18. Iustus es, Domine 19. Et imperavit Dominus 20. Et crediderunt Ninivitae 21. Peccavimus, Domine

• Giovanni Battista Bassani (ca. 1650–1716), Il Giona (1689).

• Samuel Felsted (1743–1802), Jonah (1775).

• Rudolf Tobias (1873–1918), Jonah’s Mission (1908).

• Henk Badings (1907–1987), Jonah (1962).

• Dominick Argento (b. 1927), Jonah and the Whale (1973).

• Emil Petrovics (1930–2011), The Book of Jonah (1969).

• Daniel Pinkham (1923–2006), Jonah (1967).

• John Tavener (1944–2013), The Whale (1968).

• Francesco Lannitti (b. 1962), Jonas (1980).

• Olivier Kaspar (b. 1962), Jonas ou l’ouverture aux nations (2015).

• Boaz Ben-Moshe (b. 1962), Jonah (2016).

• Boaz Ben-Moshe, Jonah (2016).

Lieder and Choral Music

• Vinzenz Lachner (1811–1893), Scherz im Ernst und Ernst im Scherz, op. 33 (1862): 9. Jonas.

• Carl Reinecke (1824–1910), 9 Men’s Choruses, op. 103: 7. Jonas.

• Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839–1901), In der Zechstube, op. 74 (1873): 1. Der Jonas kehrt im Walfisch ein.

• Frederick Bridge (1844–1924), When My Soul Fainted within Me (ca. 1890): Jon 2:7,6,9.

• Johannes Pache (1857–1897), Bilder aus Jena. Ein Cyklus von 6 Gesängen: op. 90 (1889): 3. Die Historie vom Herrn Jonas: Herr Jonas sass im Wallfischbauch.

• Donald Waxman (b. 1925), Jonah’s Prayer from the Belly of the Whale (psalm).

• Peter Schickele (b. 1935), Jonah’s Song.

• Dominique Mercier (b. 1958), Cantique de Jonas.

Opera

• Jack Perla and Velina Hasu Houston, Jonah and the Whale (Los Angeles Opera, Presented in Los Angeles’ The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 2014): the LA Opera orchestra and hundreds of singers and performers depict the story of Jonah.

Popular Music

• Louis Armstrong (1901–1971), Louis and the Good Book: “Jonah and the Whale”  (1958).

• Old Man Luedecke,Tender Is the Night: “Jonah & the Whale” (2012).

• Kelly Joe Phelps, Brother Sinner & the Whale (2012).

• David Benjamin Blower, The Book of Jonah (2017).

Theater and Musicals

Because Jonah is well-known and has such fantastic imagery and humorous possibilities, it has been readily adapted to the stage. The most straightforward are retellings that are meant to instruct and entertain, emphasizing a faith-based pedagogical message. Other stage productions include remakes, in which the setting and characters are changed to the point that the original story only serves as a framework, not unlike the utilization of the story in funerary art.

Some examples of theatrical productions:

• David Darrow, Jonah And The Whale: A New Musical (first performed at the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis MN, 2014). Set in the 1920s along the Mississippi River, “this adaptation of the Jonah story follows a young man stricken with personal loss on an adventure of self-discovery, faith, and healing.” It features a folk/rock score.

• Len Jenkin, Jonah (first produced by Undermain Theater, Dallas TX, 2016). This is a contemporary adaptation in which Jonah rides on a carnival cruise ship, becomes drunk, and falls into the sea. It features some love stories involving the evil city of Nineveh, a Dairy Queen, and of course, the whale.

Because Jonah has become, in many ways, a children’s story, there are many adaptations of the stories which are designed to be presented by and for children in churches or other religious contexts. Additionally, the story has also been adapted for family-oriented productions.

• Allen Pote and Carole McCann, Oh, Jonah. (Choristers Guild, 1987).  A half-hour play for children, it teaches “a serious message about responsibility.”

• Mary Cliff and Kelly Fort, Jonah – A Fishy Tail (Out of the Ark Music, 2012). Geared for primary school children, this play for churches and schools has additional characters such as a crab, and “Peg It and Leg It, the nasty Ninevites.”

• Sight & Sound Theaters, Jonah: On Stage! At nearly two hours, this production emphasizes that God offers second chances to everyone.