Abstract
Operatic settings of biblical narratives provide interesting material both from a literary and a musical viewpoint in which to observe the process of interpretation at work. In this study we focus on the portrayal of the woman at Endor in 1 Samuel 28. We note the traditional and more typical presentation of her in Charpentier's lyric tragedy David et Jonathas. This is then contrasted with the strikingly sympathetic and, we argue, more biblically-based portrayal of her in Carl Nielsen's opera Saul and David.
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