Judith

In the Old Testament, a Jewish widow who saved her community from a Babylonian siege by pretending to seduce, and then beheading, the enemy general Holofernes. Her story is much represented in Western art.

Judith approached Holofernes on the pretext of betraying the besieged Jews. Charming him with her beauty and wit, she made him drunk and cut his head off. By showing it to her compatriots, she incited them to attack and rout the army of Nebuchadnezzar.

Judith

Opera by Natanael Berg (1879–1957) (libretto in Swedish, by the composer, based on Friedrich Hebbel's drama), first produced in Stockholm, Sweden, on 22 February 1936. It is a tale of biblical blood-letting, as Holofernes is decapitated. Oratorios with the same title were written by Thomas Arne (libretto by Isaac Bickerstaffe), first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, England, on 27 February 1761; and by Hubert Parry (libretto from the Bible), performed at the Birmingham Festival, England, in 1888. The play with music by Arthur Honegger (libretto by R Morax) was first produced at the open-air Théâtre du Jorat, Mézières, France, on 13 June 1925; the operatic version was performed in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on 13 February 1926.