The Prodigal Son (Sullivan)

The Prodigal Son is an oratorio by Arthur Sullivan with text taken from the parable of the same name in the Gospel of Luke. It features chorus with soprano, contralto, tenor and bass solos. It premiered in Worcester Cathedral on 10 September 1869 as part of the Three Choirs Festival.

The work was Sullivan's first oratorio, and it was the first sacred music setting of this parable, preceding Claude Debussy's 1884 cantata L'enfant prodigue and Sergei Prokofiev's 1929 ballet The Prodigal Son, Op. 46.

Sullivan was still in his 20s when he composed this piece, which, like many of Sullivan's early works, shows the strong musical influence of Felix Mendelssohn. A rising star of British music, he had already produced his popular incidental music to Shakespeare's The Tempest, his Irish Symphony, a Cello concerto, his Overture in C, "In Memoriam",The Masque at Kenilworth, his first ballet, L'Île Enchantée and two comic operas, Cox and Box and The Contrabandista, as well as other orchestral pieces and numerous hymns and songs. Therefore, it was no surprise when Sullivan received a commission to compose an oratorio for the Three Choirs Festival.