20世纪的合唱作品，形形色色，五花八门，产生许多新观念、新内容、新声响、新记谱、新形态及新唱法，音乐上与传统的合唱作品截然不同，传统合唱所有的一切统一的法则都由20世纪作曲家的随心所欲而被冲破。这些摒弃传统、标新立异的20世纪合唱作品，结构庞大，规模宏伟，调性不稳定，旋律不鲜明，节奏不规则，音程变化复杂，难练难唱，歌者不感兴趣，指挥不喜欢观众也不接受，多是自生自灭，昙花一现，能流传下来的少之又少。如沃尔顿《伯沙撒王的宴会》(Belshazza’s Feast)1931年首演时一塌糊涂，一无是处。直到1958年作曲家亲自指挥录成唱片之后，才为世人所接受，成为20世纪著名的现代神剧，也是热门的录音曲目之一。在不同版本的录音中，这款由哈德斯菲尔德合唱团、利兹爱乐合唱团、英国北部爱乐团/丹尼尔(P.Daniel)录制的CD(NAXOS 8.555869)最充满戏剧力量及原始魅力。
《伯沙撒王的宴会》是以《圣经》故事为题材，采用神剧(Oratorio)形式述说古代巴比伦王国衰落的情景。在丹尼尔热情的指挥带动下，两支合唱团以大块的声响唱出了此巨作的真谛，情绪狂热，气势磅礴，那种近乎野蛮的音响效果非常戏剧化，那种响遏行云的歌声令人惊讶。
神剧第二段的中间部分“巴比伦河畔”，以无伴奏合唱形式唱出，声调凄凉，声响协调，生动地表现出犹太奴隶的悲伤及对暴君的痛恨。这段音乐，写得好，唱得好，录得好。第三段合唱“巴比伦，伟大的城”中的音型生气勃勃，得意洋洋，那种色彩绚丽的配器，令人目瞪口呆。第四段“对诸神的赞颂”的合唱色调处理得很有心机，既突出旋律流畅，又讲究声部的丰满，粗犷中带有壮丽。末曲“向神大声欢呼”(第九段)以雄厚的音层歌颂但以理的睿智及感谢神的恩赐，“哈利路亚”的歌声唱出了狂欢的气氛及感人的情怀。
由英国男中音珀维斯(W.Purves)贯穿始终的领唱，起着承前启后的效果。他的演唱用声自如，语调生动，似唱非唱，似说非说，带有怀旧的情思。
全曲听下，颇有全新之感，并无宗教之念。实际上，这部神剧的价值已大大超越纯宗教音乐了。CD附录的沃尔顿的2首加冕进行曲(至尊的皇冠、珠宝和王权)，英国北部爱乐团/丹尼尔演来排场很大，结结实实，趾高气扬，力度惊人，铜管乐组吹奏得很出色。 （作者：史君良）
歌词 Lyrics
The full text is as follows:
Thus spake Isaiah –
Thy sons that thou shalt beget
They shall be taken away,
And be eunuchs
In the palace of the King of Babylon
Howl ye, howl ye, therefore:
For the day of the Lord is at hand!
By the waters of Babylon,
By the waters of Babylon
There we sat down: yea, we wept
And hanged our harps upon the willows.
For they that wasted us
Required of us mirth;
They that carried us away captive
Required of us a song.
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
How shall we sing the Lord's song
In a strange land?
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her cunning.
If I do not remember thee,
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.
Yea, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
By the waters of Babylon
There we sat down: yea, we wept.
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed,
Happy shall he be that taketh thy children
And dasheth them against a stone,
For with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down
And shall be found no more at all.
Babylon was a great city,
Her merchandise was of gold and silver,
Of precious stones, of pearls, of fine linen,
Of purple, silk and scarlet,
All manner vessels of ivory,
All manner vessels of most precious wood,
Of brass, iron and marble,
Cinnamon, odours and ointments,
Of frankincense, wine and oil,
Fine flour, wheat and beasts,
Sheep, horses, chariots, slaves
And the souls of men.
In Babylon
Belshazzar the King
Made a great feast,
Made a feast to a thousand of his lords,
And drank wine before the thousand.
Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine,
Commanded us to bring the gold and silver vessels:
Yea! the golden vessels, which his father, Nebuchadnezzar,
Had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem.
He commanded us to bring the golden vessels
Of the temple of the house of God,
That the King, his Princes, his wives
And his concubines might drink therein.
Then the King commanded us:
Bring ye the cornet, flute, sackbut, psaltery
And all kinds of music: they drank wine again,
Yea, drank from the sacred vessels,
And then spake the King:
Praise ye
The God of Gold
Praise ye
The God of Silver
Praise ye
The God of Iron
Praise ye
The God of Wood
Praise ye
The God of Stone
Praise ye
The God of Brass
Praise ye the Gods!
Thus in Babylon, the mighty city,
Belshazzar the King made a great feast,
Made a feast to a thousand of his lords
And drank wine before the thousand.
Belshazzar whiles he tasted the wine
Commanded us to bring the gold and silver vessels
That his Princes, his wives and his concubines
Might rejoice and drink therein.
After they had praised their strange gods,
The idols and the devils,
False gods who can neither see nor hear,
Called they for the timbrel and the pleasant harp
To extol the glory of the King.
Then they pledged the King before the people,
Crying, Thou, O King, art King of Kings:
O King, live for ever...
And in that same hour, as they feasted
Came forth fingers of a man's hand
And the King saw
The part of the hand that wrote.
And this was the writing that was written:
'MENE, MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN'
'THOU ART WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE
AND FOUND WANTING'.
In that night was Belshazzar the King slain
And his Kingdom pided.
Then sing aloud to God our strength:
Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
Take a psalm, bring hither the timbrel,
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon,
Blow up the trumpet in Zion
For Babylon the Great is fallen, fallen.
Alleluia!
Then sing aloud to God our strength:
Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob,
While the Kings of the Earth lament
And the merchants of the Earth
Weep, wail and rend their raiment.
They cry, Alas, Alas, that great city,
In one hour is her judgement come.
The trumpeters and pipers are silent,
And the harpers have ceased to harp,
And the light of a candle shall shine no more.
Then sing aloud to God our strength.
Make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.
For Babylon the Great is fallen.
Alleluia!
