{"product_id":"from-biblical-book-to-musical-megahit-william-b-bradburys-esther-the-beautiful-queen-hardback-9781496845740","title":"From Biblical Book to Musical Megahit: William B. Bradbury's Esther, the Beautiful Queen (Hardback)","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Juanita Karpf\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: University Press of Mississippi\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: University Press of Mississippi\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Ethnomusicology\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany church-goers will recognize the name William Bradbury, a nineteenth-century American composer of popular hymns still sung at Sunday services. Bradbury's name may also bring to mind \u003ci\u003eEsther, the Beautiful Queen\u003c\/i\u003e, his choral setting of a text based on the biblical Book of Esther. Written for amateur singers, the uncomplicated score became enormously popular almost immediately after its initial publication in 1856. In \u003ci\u003eFrom Biblical Book to Musical Megahit: William B. Bradbury's \"Esther, the Beautiful Queen\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e\" \u003c\/i\u003eJuanita Karpf traces the work's rich performance and reception history. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Bradbury emphatically stated that he intended \u003ci\u003eEsther\u003c\/i\u003e to be sung as an unadorned religious and educational piece. Yet many music directors exploited the potential for his score, producing elaborately staged events with costumes, scenery, and acting. Although directors retained Bradbury's original music, they nonetheless facilitated \u003ci\u003eEsther\u003c\/i\u003e's rapid entr�e into the realm of music theater. This stylistic transformation ignited a firestorm of controversy. Some clergy and religiously pious citizens condemned theatrical representations of biblical texts as the epitome of debauchery, sacrilege, and sin. In contrast, more tolerant and open-minded theater enthusiasts welcomed the dramatic staging of \u003ci\u003eEsther \u003c\/i\u003eas wholesome entertainment and as evidence of a refreshingly enlightened approach to biblical interpretation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e However heated this debate seemed at times, it did little to quell the continued rise in popularity of \u003ci\u003eEsther.\u003c\/i\u003e In fact, by the late 1860s, Bradbury's score had worked its way across the continent, north to Canada and, eventually, to Great Britain, Australia, Asia, and Africa. With performances recorded over a century after Bradbury published his score, \u003ci\u003eEsther \u003c\/i\u003ebecame, by any measure, an international megahit.","brand":"Atlantic Books","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46445016973463,"sku":"9781496845740","price":11200.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9781496845740.webp?v=1769132475","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/from-biblical-book-to-musical-megahit-william-b-bradburys-esther-the-beautiful-queen-hardback-9781496845740","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}