George Frideric Handel on Music Theory Print

Acis and Galatea (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

Handel composed the first version of Acis and Galatea while he was living at Cannons (the seat of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos) during 1717–1718. It was Handel’s first dramatic work in the English language and was clearly influenced by the English pastoral operas of Johann Ernst Galliard and Johann Christoph Pepusch, of whom the latter worked with Handel at Cannons. The work is set to a libretto by John Gay which is based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, xiii (see Acis and Galatea (mythology)), and there is some uncertainty as to whether he was the only author of the text. The structure of the writing indicates that the original work by Gay was intended for only three characters and that the text for more characters was added later, possibly by John Hughes or Alexander Pope whose writings were added to the work’s text. The libretto also borrowed freely from John Dryden’s English translation of Ovid published in 1717, The Story of Acis, Polyphemus and Galatea.

Admeto

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Background#

Agrippina (opera)

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Background#

Handel’s earliest opera compositions, in the German style, date from his Hamburg years, 1704–06, under the influence of Johann Mattheson. In 1706 he traveled to Italy where he remained for three years, developing his compositional skills. He first settled in Florence where he was introduced to Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti. His first opera composed in Italy, though still reflecting the influence of Hamburg and Mattheson, was Rodrigo (1707, original title Vincer se stesso ê la maggior vittoria), and was presented there. It was not particularly successful, but was part of Handel’s process of learning to compose opera in the Italian style and to set Italian words to music. and in Naples. He applied himself to the composition of cantatas and oratorios; at that time there was little difference (apart from increasing length) between cantata, oratorio and opera, all based on the alternation of secco recitative and aria da capo. Works from this period include Dixit Dominus and the dramatic cantata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, written in Naples. While in Rome, probably through Alessandro Scarlatti, Handel had become acquainted with Cardinal Grimani, a distinguished diplomat who wrote libretti in his spare time, and acted as an unofficial theatrical agent for the Italian royal courts. He was evidently impressed by Handel and asked him to set his new libretto, Agrippina. Grimani intended to present this opera at his family-owned theatre in Venice, the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, as part of the 1709–10 Carnevale season.

Agrippina condotta a morire or Dunque sarà pur vero

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The German-born Handel spent several years of his early career living and working in Italy, first in Florence, then in Rome. Operas were banned in Rome by order of the Pope at the time Handel was resident there but the very wealthy Cardinals and leaders of the Church who were Handel’s patrons in Rome presented musical entertainments for their guests at their palatial residences. For these occasions Handel composed a series of cantatas, most of them of a pastoral character, but some, as “Agrippina condotta a morire” and others, more in the nature of dramatic monologues.

Alceste (Handel)

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External links#

Libretto in original English (from haendel.it and handelforever.com, 2004)
https://imslp.org/wiki/Alceste%2C_HWV_45_(Handel%2C_George_Frideric) Score at IMSLP.

Alcina

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Alcina was composed for Handel’s first season at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London. It premiered on 16 April 1735. Like the composer’s other works in the opera seria genre, Alcina fell into obscurity; after a revival in Brunswick in 1738 it was not performed again until a production in Leipzig in 1928. The Australian soprano Joan Sutherland sang the role in a production by Franco Zeffirelli in which she made her debut at La Fenice in February 1960 and at the Dallas Opera in November of that year. She performed in the same production at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1962. Since then Alcina has been performed on many of the world’s stages. A major production was the one directed by Robert Carsen and originally staged for the Opéra de Paris in 1999 and repeated at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Both stagings featured Renée Fleming in the title role. The opera was given a concert performance on 10 October 2014 at the Barbican Centre in London. Joyce DiDonato sang the title role under Harry Bicket with The English Concert. Alice Coote, Christine Rice and Anna Christy sang other significant roles. The group toured continental Europe, with performances in Pamplona, Madrid, Vienna, and Paris and then at Carnegie Hall in New York on 26 October. Alcina received a fully staged production during the 2017 Santa Fe Opera season with Elza van den Heever in the title role. Among many other performances worldwide, the opera was staged by the Salzburg Festival in 2019, with Cecilia Bartoli in the title role.

Alessandro (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The German-born Handel, after spending some of his early career composing operas and other pieces in Italy, settled in London, where in 1711 he had brought Italian opera for the first time with his opera Rinaldo. A tremendous success, Rinaldo created a craze in London for Italian opera seria, a form focused overwhelmingly on solo arias for the star virtuoso singers. In 1719, Handel was appointed music director of an organisation called the Royal Academy of Music (unconnected with the present day London conservatoire), a company under royal charter to produce Italian operas in London. Handel was not only to compose operas for the company but hire the star singers, supervise the orchestra and musicians, and adapt operas from Italy for London performance. Handel had composed numerous Italian operas for the academy, with varying degrees of success; some were enormously popular. In February 1726 Handel revived his Ottone, which had been spectacularly successful at its first performances in 1723 and was again a hit at its revival, with a London newspaper reporting Handel had the satisfaction of seeing an Old Opera of his not only fill the House, which had not been done for some time, but above three hundred turn’d away for want of room. As the newspaper notes, full houses were by no means a regular occurrence by that time, and the directors of the Royal Academy of Music decided to increase audiences’ interest by bringing another celebrated international opera star, Italian soprano Faustina Bordoni, to join established London favourites Francesca Cuzzoni and the star castrato Senesino in the company’s performances. Many opera companies in Italy featured two leading ladies in one opera and Faustina (as she was known) and Cuzzoni had appeared together in opera performances in various European cities with no trouble; there is no indication that there was any bad feeling or ill-will between the two of them prior to their London joint appearances. The opera company would have been aware that the story of the two princesses in love with Alexander the Great chosen for the two prima donnas’ first joint appearance was familiar to London audiences through a tragedy by Nathaniel Lee, The Rival Queens, or the Death of Alexander the Great, first performed in 1677 and often revived and it may be that they were encouraging the idea that the two singers were rivals. The performances of Alessandro went off with no signs of animosity between Bordoni and Cuzzoni or their respective supporters, but it was not very long after that tension between the two erupted. As 18th century musicologist Charles Burney observed about the Cuzzoni / Faustina rivalry, which became acute around the time of the performances of a subsequent Handel opera, Admeto: it seems impossible for two singers of equal merit to tread the stage a parte eguale, as for two people to ride on the same horse, without one being behind. The Royal Academy of Music collapsed at the end of the 1728/1729 season, partly due to the huge fees paid to the star singers, and Cuzzoni and Faustina both left London for engagements in continental Europe. Handel started a new opera company with a new prima donna, Anna Strada. One of Handel’s librettists, Paolo Rolli, wrote in a letter (the original is in Italian) that Handel said that Strada “sings better than the two who have left us, because one of them (Faustina) never pleased him at all and he would like to forget the other (Cuzzoni).”

Alessandro Severo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Alessandro Severo was not a success at its premiere under the direction of the composer on 25 February 1738 at the King’s Theatre, London.

Synopsis#

The opera is based upon the story of the Roman Emperor Alexander Severus.

Recording#

The world premiere recording was produced by MDG - Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm and performed by Armonia Atenea on period instruments under the baton of George Petrou, with Mary-Ellen Nesi as Alessandro, Kristina Hammarström as Giulia, Marita Solberg as Salustia, Irini Karaianni as Albina, Gemma Bertagnoli as Claudio and Petros Magoulas as Marziano and dedicated to Anthony Hicks. www.mdg.de

Alexander Balus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

Act 1 Alexander claimed the throne of Syria by killing Demetrius the king. Alexander then befriends the Jews and their leader Jonathan Maccabaeus. The king of Egypt, Ptolemee, congratulates Alexander and celebrates his successes by awarding him his daughter, Cleopatra Thea (not the famous Cleopatra of Shakespeare and Handel’s opera Giulio Cesare). The two fall in love. Act 2 Alexander and Cleopatra are married. Alexander is led to believe by a messenger that Jonathan plans to betray him after winning his friendship. It is then revealed that Ptolemee only arranged Alexander and Cleopatra’s marriage to take Alexander’s land and power. He plans to move his troops into Syria under the cover of nightfall to kidnap and kill the young leader. Act 3 Cleopatra is kidnapped by Ptolemee’s ruffians and he intends to force her to marry another man. During Cleopatra’s captivity, Ptolemee tries to break her allegiance to Alexander, but is unsuccessful. Alexander rushes off to war, while Jonathan stays behind, fearing the worst and doubting the power of Alexander’s Syrian gods. Jonathan’s intuition is confirmed when a messenger delivers the news that although they won three battles, Alexander and Ptolemee have been killed. Cleopatra commends herself to the goddess, Isis, and retires to ‘some peaceful shore’. Jonathan reflects on the tragedy, believing that if everyone would have acknowledged the true God, none of this would have happened.

Alexander's Feast (Handel)

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Structure of the work#

Part one: # Overture # Recitative (tenor): Twas at the royal feast # Aria and chorus (tenor): Happy, happy pair # Recitative: Timotheus plac’d on high # Recitative (Soprano): The song began from Jove # Recitative: The song began from Jove # Chorus: The list’ning crowd # Aria (soprano): With ravish’d ears # Recitative: The praise of Bacchus # Aria and chorus: Bacchus ever fair and young # Recitative: Sooth’d with the sound # Recitative: He chose a mournful muse # Aria (soprano): He sung Darius, great and good # Recitative: With downcast looks # Chorus: Behold Darius great and good # Recitative: The mighty master smil’d # Arioso (soprano): Softly sweet in Lydian measures # Aria (tenor): War, he sung, is toil and trouble # Chorus: The many rend the skies with loud applause # Aria (soprano): The prince, unable to conceal his pain # Chorus: The many rend the skies with loud applause
Part two: # Recitative and chorus: Now strike the golden lyre again # Aria (bass): Revenge, Timotheus cries # Recitative: Give vengeance the due # Aria (tenor): The princes applaud with a furious joy # Aria and chorus (soprano): Thais led the way # Recitative (tenor): Thus long ago # Chorus: At last divine Cecilia came # Recitative (soloists + chorus): Let old Timotheus yield the prize # Chorus: Let old Timotheus yield the prize # Organ concerto, Opus 4 Number 1 # Chorus: Your voices tune

Recordings#

1968 – Honor Sheppard (soprano), Max Worthley (tenor), Maurice Bevan (bass) – Oriana Concert Choir & Orchestra, conducted by Alfred Deller – originally issued on The Bach Guild label in 1964, later transitioned to Vanguard in 1968 (2 LP SRV-282/3 SD) and reissued in 1993 on CD (2 CD 08 9057 72)
1978 – Felicity Palmer (soprano), Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Stephen Roberts (bass) – Bachchor Stockholm, Concentus Musicus Wien, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt – originally issued on Telefunken (2 LP 6.35440 EK), and reissued in 1984, 2000 and 2009 on CD (242 641-2, 3984-26796-2, 2564 59056-2) on Teldec
1979 – Helen Donath (soprano I), Sally Burgess (soprano II), Robert Tear (tenor), Thomas Allen (bass) – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Philip Ledger – originally issued on EMI (2 LP SLS 5168), and reissued in 2010 on CD (2 CD 50999 6 28520 2 9) on Virgin Classics, paired with Ledger’s 1974 recording of The Choice of Hercules
1988 – Donna Brown (soprano I), Carolyn Watkinson (soprano II), Ashley Stafford (countertenor), Nigel Robson (tenor), Stephen Varcoe (bass) – Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner – recorded live on June 13 & 14, 1987 at the Stadthalle Göttingen; originally issued on Philips Classics (2 LP 422 053-1), and reissued in 1988 and 2006 on CD (422 053-2, 475 7774) on Philips Classics and Decca Records, for the latter’s The Originals series of reissued material
1991 – Nancy Argenta (soprano), Ian Partridge (tenor), Michael George (bass) – The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers – includes the insertion concertos (HWV 294 & 289), but lacks the concerto grosso; originally issued on Collins Classics (2 CD 70162), and reissued in 2006 (2 CD COR16028) on CORO, The Sixteen’s own independent record label

Alexander’s Feast today: performances and recordings#

The soprano aria War, he sung, is toil and trouble was featured in Alfonso Cuaron’s film Children of Men.

All the Angels

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Allor ch'io dissi addio

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History#

The cantata is one of the many that Handel composed in Rome whilst in his early twenties.

Synopsis#

The text tells of someone who thought they could conquer their feelings as they leave their loved one behind, however that proves to be impossible.

Structure#

The work is scored for solo soprano and keyboard (with scattered figured bass markings). The cantata contains two recitative-aria pairings. A typical performance of the work takes about eight minutes.

Almira

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Georg Friedrich Händel came to the city of Hamburg in the summer of 1703 and played as a violinist in the theatre at the Gänsemarkt, the local market place. On later occasions, he also played the harpsichord in the orchestra. His first opera – announced as a Singspiel although it has no spoken dialogue – was premiered on 8 January 1705, after being composed in the months directly preceding this. An Italian libretto was written by Giulio Pancheri in Venice in 1691 for Giuseppe Benevento’s opera L’Almira. The German translation used by Handel was made by Friedrich Christian Feustking. The recitatives of the opera are in German, and while most of the arias are also in German, many are in Italian, as was the custom at the opera house in Hamburg. Almira is the sole example among Handel’s many operas with no role for a castrato.

Amadigi di Gaula

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Handel composed Amadigi in 1715 for Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, during his stay at Burlington House. The identity of the librettist is not known for certain. Previous consensus had been that John Jacob Heidegger, who signed the dedication to Richard Boyle was the author, but more recent research has indicated that the librettist was more likely to be Giacomo Rossi, with Nicola Francesco Haym as a more probable candidate. The original manuscript of Amadigi has disappeared, along with ballet sections in the music. Only one edition of the libretto is known, dating from 1715. Two published editions of the opera exist, the Händelgesellschaft edition of 1874, and the first critical edition, by J. Merrill Knapp, which Bärenreiter published in 1971. Following this work, Handel composed no operas for five years.

Apollo e Dafne (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

Apollo, having released Greece from tyranny by killing the menacing dragon Python, is in an arrogant mood. He boasts that even Cupid’s archery is no match for his own bow and arrow. When he sees the lovely Daphne his conceit is shattered. He is instantly smitten and deploys all his charms to win her favour. Naturally distrustful, she rejects his advances and declares that she would rather die than lose her honour. Apollo becomes more forceful in insisting that she yield to his love and takes hold of her. When all seems lost, Daphne manages to escape from his grasp by transforming herself into a laurel tree. Overwhelmed by sorrow, Apollo pledges that his tears will water her green leaves and that her triumphant branches will be used to crown the greatest heroes.

Arianna in Creta

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera was first given at the King’s Theatre in London on 26 January 1734 and then presented in a revised version with dances added for Marie Sallé at Covent Garden Theatre on 27 November of the same year. As with all Baroque opera seria, Arianna in Creta went unperformed for many years, but with the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s,Arianna in Creta, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. Among other performances, Arianna in Creta was staged by the London Handel Festival in 2014 and performed in concert by the Handel Festival, Halle in 2018

Ariodante

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Background#

Arminio

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Background#

As Pants the Hart (Handel)

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HWV 251a#

HWV 251a was probably written between December 1712 and May 1713. Along with its partner HWV 251d, it is the only anthem Handel wrote that is scored for organ and basso continuo alone. It was not written for a grand public occasion (typical of Handel’s other anthems), but rather for use in the routine services of the Chapel Royal. Even though the text is the same for all versions of HWV 251, the voice scoring differs. For example, in the HWV 251a version, the movement Tears are my daily food… was written for solo alto, and the movement Why so full of grief… was written for treble and alto (these can be compared with the voice scoring in HWV 251d—below). Other catalogues of Handel’s music have referred to the work as HG xxxiv,277 and HHA iii/9,3.

Atalanta (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The German-born Handel had brought Italian opera to London stages for the first time in 1711 with his opera Rinaldo. An enormous success, Rinaldo created a craze in London for Italian opera seria, a form focused overwhelmingly on solo arias for the star virtuoso singers. Handel had presented new operas in London for years with great success. One of the major attractions in Handel’s operas was the star castrato Senesino whose relationship with the composer was often stormy and who eventually left Handel’s company to appear with the rival Opera of the Nobility, set up in 1733 and with the Prince of Wales as a major sponsor. Handel moved to another theatre, Covent Garden, and engaged different singers, but there was not enough of an audience for opera in London, or aristocratic supporters to back it, for two opera houses at once, and both opera companies found themselves in difficulty. Handel’s spring season of 1736 was shorter than usual, probably because of these difficulties, but when the wedding of the Prince of Wales was announced he prepared an opera in celebration. His rival Nicola Porpora did the same, writing the serenata La festa d’Imeneo. Neither work was ready for performance by the day of the wedding itself, 27 April 1736, and Porpora’s work premiered on 4 May. The premiere of Atalanta on 12 May was attended by the King and Queen but not by their son the Prince of Wales and his new wife. Atalanta was a more light-hearted and celebratory work than many of his other opera seria, along the same lines as his very popular piece Il Pastor Fido which he had recently revived. The celebrations for the royal marriage at the end of the piece with an onstage fireworks display created a sensation. Poet Thomas Gray wrote to Horace Walpole: …(in) the last act…there appears the Temple of Hymen with illuminations; there is a row of blue fires burning in order along the ascent to the temple; a fountain of fire spouts up out of the ground to the ceiling, and two more cross each other obliquely from the sides of the stage; on the top is a wheel that whirls always about, and throws out a shower of gold-colour, silver, and blue fiery rain.

Athalia (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

Athalia, daughter of King Ahab of Israel and Queen Jezebel, had been married to Jehoram, King of Judah. After her husband’s death, Athalia was determined to stamp out the Jewish line of kings descended from David. She caused, so she believed, all the heirs to the throne to be murdered. She took the throne and ruled Judah herself, and began to devote the country to the idolatrous worship of Baal instead of the God of Israel. However, the child Joas, rightful heir to the throne, had been saved from death by Joad the High Priest and his wife Josabeth and raised as their own son under the name “Eliakim”.

Aure soavi e lieti (Handel)

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Background#

Handel composed Aure soavi e lieti while a guest of the Francesco Maria Marescotti Ruspoli during his sojourn in Italy. The copyist’s bill to Ruspoli for the score is dated 16 May 1707. According to Mainwaring, Handel had traveled to Italy in 1706 at the invitation of Ferdinando de’ Medici. Other sources say Handel was invited by Gian Gastone de’ Medici, whom Handel had met in 1703–1704 in Hamburg. De’ Medici, who had a keen interest in opera, was trying to make Florence Italy’s musical capital by attracting the leading talents of his day. In 1707, Handel arrived in Rome where for two years he was a guest of Ruspoli, who made him his Kapellmeister. During this period, Handel also composed the antiphon Salve Regina (HWV 241) which was performed in the Ruspoli Castle in Vignanello and the secular cantata Diana Cacciatrice (HWV 79) which was performed at the Palazzo Ruspoli in Cerveteri. His 1707 oratorios La Resurrezione (HWV 47) and Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno (HWV 46a), both dedicated to Francesco Maria Marescotti Ruspoli, were performed in Rome at the palaces of the Ruspoli and Ottoboni families. Handel remained in Italy until 1710. Antonio Caldara succeeded him as Kapellmeister to the Ruspoli family in 1709.

Beecham-Handel suites

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

After their original performances between 1705 and 1741 Handel’s operas had fallen into almost total neglect. Even in his lifetime they had become unfashionable and he had successfully switched to writing oratorios in English. After his death the operas were generally forgotten. The writer Jonathan Keates summed matters up: Audiences in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th were unaccustomed to harpsichord-accompanied recitatives as numerous and lengthy as those in Handel, and the baroque convention that operatic heroes were performed by castrati was viewed with a mixture of horror and amusement. Keates quotes one Handel scholar as saying, “nowadays there is no humane answer to the castrato problem.” Beecham was among the few who were familiar with Handel’s operatic works. He frequently programmed individual arias from them in his concerts. In addition to this, he believed that another effective way of bringing Handel’s forgotten operatic music before the public was to arrange the best of it into concert or ballet suites for large modern orchestras. Like Mozart before him, he had no hesitation in reorchestrating Handel’s music to match the available orchestral forces and current musical tastes: Beecham, maintaining that Handel “revelled in great demonstrations of sound”, said he feared that “without some effort along these lines, the greater portion of his magnificent output will remain unplayed, possibly to the satisfaction of drowsy armchair purists, but hardly to the advantage of the keenly alive and enquiring concertgoer.”

Belshazzar (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

Precis: Despite the warnings of his mother Queen Nitocris, King Belshazzar of Babylon commits sacrileges against the God of the Jews, who are in captivity there. The city is besieged, Belshazzar is slain, and the Jews are freed to return to their homeland by Cyrus the Great of Persia.

Act I#

Scene: Babylon, 538 BC. The city is being besieged by an army of Medes and Persians, led by Cyrus. The Palace in Babylon The Queen Mother Nitocris, mother of Belshazzar, muses on the changes that can affect even the most powerful of human beings (Accompanied recitative:Vain, fluctuating state of human empire!) Nitocris has become convinced that the God of the Jews, who are being held in captivity in Babylon, is the true God, and to Him she prays (Air:Thou, God most high, and Thou alone). The Jewish prophet Daniel, whom she has learnt to trust, comes to her. She is concerned about the fate of the empire under the rule of her wayward son. Daniel advises her that submission to the will of God will be rewarded (Air: Lament not thus, O Queen, in vain!). The camp of Cyrus before Babylon. A view of the city, with the River Euphrates running through it The Babylonians watch from the city walls and deride Cyrus and his army for making what they believe are impracticable preparations for storming the city (Chorus of Babylonians: Behold, by Persia’s hero made). Gobrias, a Babylonian noble who has defected to Cyrus, fears they are right. Gobrias longs for revenge for the death of his son which was caused by Belshazzar (Air:Oppress’d with never-ceasing grief). Cyrus assures him he will prevail (Air:Dry those unavailing tears). Cyrus says that, as he stood on the banks of the Euphrates, he was seized by what seemed a divine inspiration (Accompanied recitative:Methought, as on the bank of deep Euphrates). Cyrus had the idea to drain the river which runs through the city and march into it along the riverbed. A good opportunity to do this will be during the feast of the Babylonian god Sesach, on which, Gobrias confirms, it is a religious duty to the Babylonians to get roaring drunk in the god’s honour (Behold the monstrous human beast). Cyrus dedicates himself to the, as yet unknown to him, powerful deity whom he feels is directing his steps (Great God, who, yet but darkly known). His army comment that great deeds are only possible with divine assistance (Chorus of Medes and Persians:All empires upon God depend). Daniel’s house. Daniel, with the Prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah open before him. Other Jews Daniel is consulting sacred Jewish texts for guidance (Air: O sacred oracles of truth). He feels sure that he and his fellow Jews will soon attain their freedom (Accompanied recitative:Rejoice, my countrymen! The time draws near). Daniel has found a prophecy in the texts that indicates that Cyrus is the anointed of the Lord and will imminently overthrow Babylon and release the Jews from their captivity (Air:Thus saith the Lord to Cyrus, his anointed). The Jews praise God for His mercy (Sing, O ye Heav’ns, for the Lord hath done it!) The Palace Belshazzar, with his mother, Babylonians and Jews present, is celebrating the feast of Sesach by uproariously drinking copious amounts of wine (Air:Let festal joy triumphant reign). His mother Nitocris rebukes him for his riotous excess (Air:The leafy honours of the field). Belshazzar responds that getting drunk on the feast of Sesach is the custom, in fact a duty, and noticing the Jews around him, orders the sacred vessels from the temple of Jerusalem that were brought as tribute to Babylon to be brought to him so he can continue to drink from them. His mother is horrified by such sacrilege and the Jews beg the King not to perform such a profanation (Chorus of Jews:Recall, O king, thy rash command!). Nitrocis implores her beloved son not to thus incur God’s wrath, but Belshazzar scornfully rejects what he considers his mother’s superstition (Duet:O dearer than my life, forbear!) The Jews comment that the Lord is slow to anger but his wrath will eventually be awoken (Chorus of Jews:By slow degrees the wrath of God to its meridian height ascends).

Berenice (opera)

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Background#

Brockes Passion (Handel)

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Brockes’ text#

Barthold Heinrich Brockes was an influential German poet who re-worked the traditional form of a Passion oratorio, adding reflective and descriptive poetry, sometimes of a highly-wrought and emotional kind, into the texture of his Passion. The Brockes Passion was much admired and set to music numerous times in Baroque Germany, although to other ages and in other countries some of Brockes’ poetry has seemed in poor taste. In Brockes’ version of a passion, a tenor Evangelist narrates, in recitative passages, events from all four Gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ suffering and death. Persons of the Gospel story (Jesus, Peter, Pilate, and so on) have dialogue passages, also in recitative; a chorus sings passages depicting the declamation of crowds; and poetic texts, sometimes in the form of arias, sometimes that of chorales, reflect on the events. Some of the arias are for the persons of the Passion, Jesus himself, Peter, etc., but Mary the mother of Jesus also has a singing part, and fictitious “characters”, the Daughter of Zion, four solo Believing Souls, and A Chorus of Believing Souls, also observe and comment.

Catone (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Libretto#

The libretto was written by Metastasio. A first version of his libretto was set to music by Leonardo Vinci whose opera premiered in Rome on 19 January 1728. However, Metastasio’s Catone in Utica was initially received with mixed feelings. While Naples’s audiences had just accepted Dido’s death in the flames at the end of Didone abbandonata (1724), Rome’s were unwilling to watch Cato’s agonizingly slow death which spanned the last two scenes of the opera, and unwilling to do without the expected “lieto fine”. Neither were they impressed by the scene set in a disused sewer. Metastasio therefore revised his libretto (in particular the last act). In this second version Cato’s death is simply reported and all that remains of the “acquedotti antichi” is the entrance to it, with a fountain dedicated to the goddess Isis. This second version was set to music by Leo, whose opera premiered on 26 December 1728 in Venice. Handel’s Catone is primarily based on Leo’s opera, and therefore on the second version of the libretto, to which further cuts and adjustments were made. For instance, the character of Fulvio is completely edited out in Handel’s version.

Chandos Anthems

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In 1717, Handel became composer in residence at Cannons in Middlesex, seat of James Brydges, Earl of Carnarvon, who in 1719 became the First Duke of Chandos. Johann Christoph Pepusch was Master of Music, having taken up his post before Handel’s arrival. During his stay, Handel composed anthems which became known as the Chandos Anthems, for use in Anglican church services. Brydges had a chapel built, but it was still under construction when Handel composed the pieces, and was completed in 1720. Therefore, the court services were held at the parish church St Lawrence in Whitchurch. The church was remodeled to the Earl’s baroque taste, finished in 1716. It contains artwork by Louis Laguerre and Antonio Bellucci. The organ used by Handel is at its east end. The organ was modified over the years, but it was restored in 1994, using the surviving parts of the original 1716 single-manual instrument as a reference. Handel probably selected and compiled the texts himself, drawing from both the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and from a metrical version of the psalms by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, published as New Version of the Psalms (NVP) in 1696. Handel used three types of selection, on top of setting a complete psalm, firstly a shortened psalm, secondly a shortened psalm with an added verse from a different psalm, and often, most advanced, a compilation of verses from several different psalms. Setting a psalm completely was familiar to him from older models, and he used it in his own settings of psalms in Latin in 1707, and in No. 1, setting the complete Psalm 100. He used the first method in setting Psalm 51, for example, in No. 3. Handel perhaps composed the anthems in pairs, sometimes reusing older material. Ten of the anthems were published in 1784, today’s numbers 2 to 11, in different order. No. 1, the Chandos Jubilate, was left out, possibly because the Utrecht Jubilate was published earlier. In the Samuel Arnold edition of Handel’s works, there were twelve anthems, one in two versions, and a No. 12 added, O praise the Lord, ye angels of his. It is debated if this work was composed by Handel. Friedrich Chrysander’s edition of Handel’s works names these anthems simply Psalmen, and in the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe by Bärenreiter, they are titled Anthems for Cannons. Carus-Verlag published an edition of the individual anthems in 2009, calling them Cannons Anthems.

Chandos Jubilate

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Handel, born in 1685 in what is now Germany, had spent several years as a young composer in Italy. From 1712 he was resident in London and was mostly focused on composing Italian operas. In 1717 he joined the household of James Brydges, later 1st Duke of Chandos, at his palatial estate, Cannons, in Little Stanmore, as composer in residence. Handel was already a celebrated composer throughout much of Europe and as his first biographer, John Mainwaring, wrote in 1760 “the having of such a composer was an instance of real magnificence such as no private person or subject: nay, such as no prince or potentate on the earth could at that time pretend to.” Brydges maintained a number of other composers as well as a small orchestra and an ensemble of singers and part of Handel’s duties was to provide music for worship services held in Brydge’s private chapel at the nearby church of St. Lawrence, Whitchurch.

Clori, Tirsi e Fileno

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In 1706 Handel left Hamburg for Italy, and in May 1707 began living as composer-in-residence with the Marchese Francesco Maria Ruspoli, traveling between the Bonelli Palace in Rome and the Ruspoli estate. Clori, Tirsi, e Fileno was written sometime before October of that year – a copyist’s bill for the work is dated October 14, 1707. There is no certain record of any performance, but it may have been given privately before Handel left for Florence later that year to conduct the premiere of Rodrigo, his first Italian opera, which shares an aria with the cantata. The cantata was never revived, and for centuries was known only from a fragmentary manuscript score kept in the British Library. A version of this fragment was published by Chrysander in 1889. However, in 1960 musicologist announced the discovery of a complete score in the Santini Collection at Münster, the only one in existence. Comparison of the complete score with the earlier fragment in the British Library reveals revisions made late in composition: Handel had originally closed the cantata with a cynical duet for the two deceived lovers, “Senza occhi” (“Without eyes”) in which they heap scorn on womankind and renounce love forever. He replaced this with a more light-hearted trio in which the young woman and her disappointed lovers all join, “Vivere e non amar” (“To live and not to love”).

Concerti grossi, Op. 3 (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Musical structure#

The structure of Op. 3 is somewhat unusual. The six concertos have anything between two and five movements, but only one of them contains the usual four movements. Only occasionally are the instrumental forces set in the traditional concerto grosso manner: a tutti group and a contrasting, soloistic concertino group. However, the concertos are filled with virtuoso solo passages for both the strings and the woodwinds, thus maintaining the form of the concerto grosso despite the lack of traditional contrasting forces.

Concerti grossi, Op. 6 (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History and origins#

In 1735 Handel had started to incorporate organ concertos into performances of his oratorios. By showcasing himself as composer-performer, he could provide an attraction to match the Italian castrati of the rival company, the Opera of the Nobility. These concertos formed the basis of the Handel organ concertos Op.4, published by John Walsh in 1738. The first and the last of these six concertos, HWV 289 and HWV 294, were originally written in 1736 to be performed during Alexander’s Feast, Handel’s setting of John Dryden’s ode Alexander’s Feast or The Power of Musick – the former for chamber organ and orchestra, the latter for harp, strings and continuo. In addition in January 1736 Handel composed a short and lightweight concerto grosso for strings in C major, HWV 318, traditionally referred to as the “Concerto in Alexander’s Feast”, to be played between the two acts of the ode. Scored for string orchestra with solo parts for two violins and violoncello, it had four movements and was later published in Walsh’s collection Select Harmony of 1740. Its first three movements (allegro, largo, allegro) have the form of a contemporary Italian concerto, with alternation between solo and tutti passages. The less conventional fourth movement, marked andante, non presto, is a charming and stately gavotte with elegant variations for the two violins. Because of changes in popular tastes, the season in 1737 had been disastrous for both the Opera of the Nobility and Handel’s own company, which by that time he managed single-handedly. At the close of the season Handel suffered a form of physical and mental breakdown, which resulted in paralysis of the fingers on one hand. Persuaded by friends to take the waters at Aix-la-Chapelle, he experienced a complete recovery. Henceforth, with the exception of Giove in Argo (1739), Imeneo (1740) and Deidamia (1741), he abandoned Italian opera in favour of the English oratorio, a new musical genre that he was largely responsible for creating. The year 1739 saw the first performance of his great oratorio Saul, his setting of John Dryden’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day and the revival of his pastoral English opera or serenata Acis and Galatea. In the previous year he had produced the choral work Israel in Egypt and in 1740 he composed L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, a cantata-like setting of John Milton’s poetry. For the 1739–1740 season at the Lincoln’s Inn Fields theatre, Handel composed Twelve Grand Concertos to be performed during intervals in these masques and oratorios, as a feature to attract audiences: forthcoming performances of the new concertos were advertised in the London daily papers. Following the success of his organ concertos Op.4, his publisher John Walsh had encouraged Handel to compose a new set of concertos for purchase by subscription under a specially acquired Royal License. There were just over 100 subscribers, including members of the royal family, friends, patrons, composers, organists and managers of theatres and pleasure-gardens, some of whom bought multiple sets for larger orchestral forces. Handel’s own performances usually employed two continuo instruments, either two harpsichords or a harpsichord and a chamber organ; some of the autograph manuscripts have additional parts appended for oboes, the extra forces available for performances during oratorios. Walsh had himself very successfully sold his own 1715 edition of Corelli’s celebrated Twelve concerti grossi, Op. 6, first published posthumously in Amsterdam in 1714. The later choice of the same opus number for the second edition of 1741, the number of concertos and the musical form cannot have been entirely accidental; more significantly Handel in his early years in Rome had encountered and fallen under the influence of Corelli and the Italian school. The twelve concertos were produced in a space of five weeks in late September and October 1739, with the dates of completion recorded on all but No.9. The ten concertos of the set that were largely newly composed were first heard during performance of oratorios later in the season. The two remaining concertos were reworkings of organ concertos, HWV 295 in F major (nicknamed “the Cuckoo and the Nightingale” because of the imitations of birdsong in the organ part) and HWV 296 in A major, both of which had already been heard by London audiences earlier in 1739. In 1740 Walsh published his own arrangements for solo organ of these two concertos, along with arrangements of four of the Op. 6 concerti grossi (Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 10). The composition of the concerti grossi, however, because of the unprecedented period of time laid aside for their composition, seem to have been a conscious effort by Handel to produce a set of orchestral “masterpieces” for general publication: a response and homage to the ever-popular concerti grossi of Corelli as well as a lasting record of Handel’s own compositional skills. Despite the conventionality of the Corellian model, the concertos are extremely diverse and in parts experimental, drawing from every possible musical genre and influenced by musical forms from all over Europe. The ten concertos that had been newly composed (all those apart from Nos. 9 and 11) received their premières during the performances of oratorios and odes during the winter season 1739–1740, as evidenced by contemporary advertisements in the London daily papers. Two were performed on 22 November, St Cecilia’s Day, during performances of Alexander’s Feast and Ode for St Cecilia’s Day; two more on 13 December and another four on 14 February. Two concertos were heard at the first performance of L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato at the end of February; and two more in March and early April during revivals of Saul and Israel in Egypt. The final pair of concertos were first played during a performance of L’Allegro on 23 April, just two days after the official publication of the set.

Coronation anthem

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Handel’s coronation anthems#

Although part of the traditional content of British coronations, the texts for all four anthems were picked by Handel—a personal selection from the most accessible account of an earlier coronation, that of James II of England in 1685. One of George I of Great Britain’s last acts before his death in 1727 was to sign an “Act of naturalisation of George Frideric Händel and others”. Handel’s first commission as a newly naturalised British subject was to write the music for the coronation of George II of Great Britain and Queen Caroline which took place on 11 October the same year. Within the coronation ceremonies Let thy hand be strengthened was played first, then Zadok, then The King shall rejoice, and finally My heart is inditing at the coronation of the Queen. (In modern coronations the order is Zadok, Let thy hand be strengthened, The King shall rejoice and My heart is inditing, with the order of Let thy hand be strengthened and The King shall rejoice sometimes reversed.) Right from their composition the four anthems have been popular and regularly played in concerts and festivals even during Handel’s own lifetime. He re-used substantial extracts from them in many of his oratorios without many changes (other than to the text), notably Esther and Deborah. Two of the anthems were played at the 1742 inauguration of the Holywell Music Room in Oxford, a hall dedicated to chamber music. Their success perhaps contributed to the popular image of Handel as a composer whose music required a huge number of singers and musicians (the more the better)—in other words, the character criticised by Berlioz as “a barrel of pork and beer”. In practice, Handel often adapted his music to the occasion and to the skill of those for whom he was writing, and no occasion could be grander than a coronation. The ceremonial style of the anthems differs from his music for the theatre just as his Music for the Royal Fireworks (the latter designed for open-air performance) differs from his instrumental concertos. The anthems show a completely extrovert tone, managing massed forces and important contrasts rather than delicate colours—with the wide spatial reverberation in Westminster Abbey, he did not waste time and effort trying to show small points of detail. The means he had at his disposal were the most important of the era—the choir of the Chapel Royal was augmented by 47 singers, with an orchestra which reached perhaps 160 people. The chorus was divided into 6 or 7 groups (with the tenors kept together) and a large string section, made up of three groups of violins (rather than the two which were usual).

Dalla guerra amorosa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

The work has five movements: (Movements do not contain repeat markings unless indicated. The number of bars is the raw number in the manuscript—not including repeat markings. The above is taken from the Händel-Gesellschaft edition (volume 50, page 34).

External links#

Text and midi samples

Daphne (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Georg Friedrich Händel composed Die Verwandelte Daphne at the request of Reinhard Keiser, the manager of the Oper am Gänsemarkt in 1706. The opera was the second part of a double opera, with the first part, Florindo. Origibally both works were planned for one evening. The libretto, based on the Daphne myth, was by , a lawyer, who also wrote the text for Keiser’s first opera in Hamburg, Mahumet II (1696), based on the life of Mehmet II. Hinsch had been writing librettos since 1681. He died in 1712. After completing Daphne, Händel only taught and studied music by colleagues. He prepared his departure to Italy where he planned to study further; he copied Keiser’s opera Octavia and took it along on his journey. Daphne was first performed at the Theater am Gänsemarkt in January 1708. It was probably directed from the harpsichord by Christoph Graupner. Only fragments of the score survive, but a copy of the libretto exists in the Library of Congress.

Deborah (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

By 1733, Handel had spent nearly twenty years composing and presenting seasons of Italian opera in London. The great success of Esther the previous year had shown Handel that there was potential for further works of “Sacred Drama”, performed in concert form in English. Deborah reuses much music Handel had previously composed, including passages from the Brockes Passion, Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno, the Dixit Dominus, and others. Deborah was performed as part of Handel’s season at the King’s Theatre in 1733, with the stars of the Italian opera singing in English, and the composer / impresario was so confident of the work’s success that he doubled the price of admission for the first performance, causing some resentment and comment in the press.

Deidamia (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

A ballad opera on the same story by John Gay had been performed in London in 1733, under the title Achilles. Handel’s opera, a co-production with the Earl of Holderness, was first performed on 10 January 1741 at London’s Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre, but received only two more performances at a time when the public was becoming tired of Italian opera. The work was Handel’s last Italian opera, and he subsequently turned his attention to composing oratorios. The opera was revived in the 1950s and it receives staged performances today, e.g. the 2012 staging by David Alden for Netherlands Opera.

Del bell'idolo mio

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The copyist’s bill for Ruspoli is dated 31 August 1709, however there is no evidence that Handel was still in Rome at that time. Some aspects of the manuscript connect the cantata with others that were written in the spring of 1707.

Synopsis#

The cantata describes the quest of the singer as he ventures into the Underworld to rescue the soul of his beloved Nice.

Structure#

The work is scored for solo soprano and keyboard (with scattered figured bass markings). The cantata contains three recitative-aria pairings. A typical performance of the work takes almost eleven minutes.

Der Messias

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Mozart first heard Handel’s Messiah in London in 1764 or 1765, and then in Mannheim in 1777. The first performance, in English, in Germany was in 1772 in Hamburg. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was the first to perform the oratorio in German: he presented it in 1775 in Hamburg, with a libretto translated by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock and Christoph Daniel Ebeling, followed by repeat performances in that city in 1777 and 1778. In 1785, Johann Adam Hiller’s arrangement of Messiah was performed by 302 vocalists and instrumentalists in Berlin. The score of Handel’s Messiah was first published in London in 1767. In 1789, at the instigation of Gottfried van Swieten, who had founded the music-loving Gesellschaft der Associierten (Society of Associated Cavaliers) to sponsor such concerts, Mozart arranged Handel’s work to be performed for invited guests in the houses of Vienna’s nobility, as he had arranged Acis and Galethea in 1788 and would, in 1790, arrange the Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day (Cäcilienode) and Alexander’s Feast (Alexander-Fest). His arrangement Der Messias was first performed on 6 March 1789 at Count Johann Esterházy’s palace, with a repeat performance; performed in the residence of Johann Wenzel Paar; and performed twice, around Christmas that year, at the winter palace of Duke Schwarzenberg. Mozart’s arrangement was intended for these specific performances, and there was no plan to print it. It was only published after his death.

Dettingen Te Deum

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

On 27 June 1743, the British army and its allies, under the command of King George II and Lord Stair, won a victory at the Battle of Dettingen, over the French army, commanded by the Maréchal de Noailles and the Duc de Grammont. On the King’s return a day of public thanksgiving was appointed, and Handel, at that time “Composer of the Musick to the Chapel Royal,” was commissioned to write a Te Deum and an anthem (“The King Shall Rejoice”) for the occasion. The work was composed between 17 and 29 July 1743 and was first performed on 27 November 1743 in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace, London in the presence of George II.

Dixit Dominus (Handel)

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Movements#

The work has the following movements:

Ero e Leandro

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Music#

Qual ti reveggio, oh Dio (Recitative)
Empio mare (Aria)
Amor, che ascoso (Recitative)
Se la morte non vorrà (Aria)
Questi dalla mia fronte (Recitative)
Si muora (Aria)
Ecco, gelide labbra (Recitative)

Esther (Handel)

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Masque (1718, revised 1720)#

Esther began in 1718 as a masque, or chamber drama (HWV 50a), composed early in Handel’s English career, and before the body of his success as an opera composer. It was first composed and performed at Cannons, where the Duke of Chandos employed Handel from 1716 - 1718 as resident composer writing for his patron’s singers and small orchestra. Little is known about this first version of Esther. The version which survives is of a revision in 1720, also probably intended for private performance at Cannons, where the very wealthy Duke of Chandos employed a group of musicians and singers, and where Acis and Galatea, Handel’s first non-religious vocal work in the English language, also had its premiere in 1718. The Cannons version of Esther was in six scenes with no break and written for an ensemble of one soprano, an alto, two tenors and two basses. Like Acis and Galatea, Esther may have been staged or semi-staged, with the soloists singing together to create a chorus when required. The author of the libretto is uncertain,

Ezio (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera received its first performance at the King’s Theatre, London on 15 January 1732. It received a total of only 5 performances before falling from the repertoire, in what turned out to be Handel’s greatest operatic failure. It was revived in Göttingen in 1926 and became extremely popular in the former East Germany, receiving more than 350 performances in at least 23 different revivals to 1983. In London, Ezio did not receive another performance after the five in Handel’s lifetime until 1977, by the Handel Opera Society at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Winton Dean has stated that the failure of the opera related to the artistic incompatibility between the “classical” nature of the libretto and the more “romantic” nature of the music. As with all Baroque opera seria, Ezio went unperformed for many years, but with the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s, Ezio, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. Among other performances, Ezio was staged by the London Handel Festival in 2005, and in May 2009 it was performed at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen as part of the Schwetzingen Festival. The performance, staged by Günter Krämer, with Yosemeh Adjei singing Ezio, was also broadcast on the German television network 3sat on 19 September 2009.

Faramondo

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Background#

Fitzwilliam Sonatas

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History#

The two sonatas used by Dart for his edition were probably written between 1724 and 1726, but were not likely intended to be associated, either as a pair or together with the other four recorder sonatas by Handel. They were first associated in 1948, when Thurston Dart named them after the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge, where the autograph sources are kept. Said autographs were part of the bequest that founded the museum, made in 1816 by Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam (not related to the Earls Fitzwilliam), who had bought them at auction following the death of J.C. Smith the Younger (1712–95), from the portion of his collection remaining after a major gift to King George III. This edition restored the D minor sonata to its original seven-movement form, and added as no. 3 the Sonata in G major, HWV 358, probably composed much earlier than the other two Fitzwilliam recorder sonatas, at some time between 1707 and 1710. Even with correction of an evidently defective, very high passage at the end of the third movement, Hofmann admits that “Handel must have been counting on a superlative instrumental soloist”, and suggests that “perhaps an instrument in g’ ought also to be kept in mind” (as opposed to the usual alto recorder in f’). The attribution of this sonata to the recorder is contested, however. Both David Lasocki and Terence Best assign it to the violin, whereas Jean-Claude Veilhan endorses Hofmann’s view, and Winfried Michel acknowledges the possibility. Two further Handel sonatas found in the Fitzwilliam manuscripts have been published under the “Fitzwilliam” rubric: the Sonata for Violin and Continuo in G minor, HWV 364a, and the Sonata for Oboe and Continuo in B major, HWV 357. In the autograph of the G minor violin sonata, Handel copied out the first bar a second time at the foot of the first page, with the solo part written an octave lower, in the alto clef and with the words “Per la Viola da Gamba”. A realization of this version was first published in an edition by Thurston Dart in 1950.

Flavio

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Handel completed the score only seven days before the premiere, at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket on 14 May 1723. There were eight performances in the premiere run. The work was revived on 18 April 1732, under the direction of the composer, for four performances. There were no further revivals until it was rediscovered and performed in Göttingen on 2 July 1967. The first UK performance since Handel’s time was on 26 August 1969 at the Unicorn Theatre in Abingdon-on-Thames, England. Among other productions, Flavio was performed at the New York City Opera in 2007 and by English Touring Opera in 2009.

Floridante

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Background#

Florindo

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Plot#

The opera takes place in the sixth century and is set in Thessaly.

Act 1#

The thanksgiving festival in honor of the god Phoebus (Apollo) takes place in a beautiful landscape. He killed the cruel dragon Python. Cupid also appears at the festival, and when he is mocked by Phoebus, he swears revenge. Daphne, Florindo’s lover and already promised to him, meets Phoebus on the sidelines of the festival, and the son of Zeus falls in love with the daughter of the river god Pineus. Alfirena sings about her unhappy love for the already taken Florindo. In the meantime, he meets his bride for a shepherd’s hour, and they both decide to get the wedding started today. The nymph Lycoris, who is also in love with Florindo, is in turn lusted after by the shepherd Damon. But they court each other and indulge in their respective heartbreaks. So the first act ends with two lovesick people who cannot be comforted.

Flute sonata in A minor (HWV 374)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

The work consists of four movements: (Movements do not contain repeat markings unless indicated. The number of bars is taken from the Chrysander edition, and is the raw number in the manuscript—not including repeat markings.)

Flute sonata in B minor (HWV 367b)

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Flute sonata in B minor (HWV 376)

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Movements#

Flute Sonata in E minor (HWV 359b)

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Movements#

Flute sonata in E minor (HWV 375)

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Movements#

Flute sonata in E minor (HWV 379)

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Movements#

Flute sonata in G major (HWV 363b)

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Movements#

Foundling Hospital Anthem

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Background#

The Foundling Hospital was a charitable institution founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram to house and educate abandoned and orphaned children. It was established under royal charter by King George II and was supported by many noted figures of the day in high society and the arts. The portrait painter and cartoonist William Hogarth was a founding governor, and thanks to his influence, the Foundling Hospital grew to become a very fashionable charity, counting among its benefactors a number of renowned artists. Under Hogarth’s direction, artists such as William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds, Allan Ramsay and Thomas Gainsborough exhibited paintings at the Hospital, creating what is thought to be Britain’s first public art gallery. The composer George Frederic Handel was invited to put on a benefit concert in the Hospital chapel to raise funds, and for the occasion he composed the Foundling Hospital Anthem.

Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Queen Caroline, consort of George II, had been friend and patron to Handel for more than thirty years when she died in 1737. An accomplished amateur musician herself, Caroline took a lively interest in artistic and intellectual matters, and was widely mourned at her death. Handel was commissioned to compose music for her funeral, using text provided to him by Edward Willes that drew from the Lamentations and Job. At the funeral, according to contemporary accounts, “…the great Bells of the Cathedral of St. Paul and of many Churches in London and Westminster were tolled. And the Tower Guns kept firing all the while, at a Minute’s Distance between each”. Handel’s anthem was performed in Westminster Abbey by “near 80 vocal performers and 100 instrumental from His Majesty’s band, and from the Opera, etc.” The Duke of Chandos, Handel’s former patron, wrote of the anthem “the composition was exceedingly fine, and adapted very properly to the melancholy occasion.”

Giove in Argo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The libretto by the Venetian poet Lucchini had been written for a setting by Antonio Lotti in Dresden in 1717. Handel might have heard Lotti’s opera on his visit to Dresden in 1719, where the famous Senesino sang the part of Jupiter. Probably Handel took a copy of the text to England and remembered it in 1739 when he was looking for a libretto for a short pasticcio opera with three female characters in it. Handel brought several pasticci to the London stage. In most cases he adapted successful works of Italian composers for London, but he wrote three pasticci in which he re-used music from his own earlier works. They are the well known Oreste, the little-known Alessandro Severo and the completely unknown Giove in Argo. In the last-named opera he used, apart from music from his earlier works, some original compositions as well as two arias (sung by Iside) written by the Italian composer Francesco Araja. The opera failed in London and was abandoned after only two performances.

Giulio Cesare

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

Giulio Cesare in Egitto was first performed at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket, London on 20 February 1724. The opera was an immediate success. A contemporary wrote in a letter on 10 March 1724: …the opera is in full swing also, since Hendell’s new one, called Jules César – in which Cenesino and Cozzuna shine beyond all criticism – has been put on. The house was just as full at the seventh performance as at the first. Curio and Nireno were not allotted any arias in the original version, only singing in recitatives, although they take part in the first and final choruses. However, Handel composed an aria for Nireno for a later revival in 1730. Although a caricature, the contemporary engraving of Senesino on the left, Francesca Cuzzoni and castrato Gaetano Berenstadt on the right, provides valuable information about the visual aspect of the original performances of Handel operas. The illustration is probably of a scene from Handel’s Flavio, presented by the Royal Academy of Music in 1723, although it has sometimes been identified as a scene from Giulio Cesare. The elongated bodies of the castrati tower over Cuzzoni, who was described by Horace Walpole as “short and squat”. The set is architectural and generic, not a specific locale, and the costumes for the men are also generic, with some inspiration from ancient Roman military attire; breastplates, armoured skirts and leg armour, combined with plumes on the headdresses. Such costumes were worn by the leading men in Handel operas whether the setting was ancient Rome or Gothic Europe. Cuzzoni, in contrast, wears a contemporary gown such as might have been suitable for presentation at court, with a dwarf to serve as her train-bearer.

Giustino (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

By the 1736–37 season in London, the German-born Handel was presenting both operas he had composed in Italian, as he had done for more than twenty years, and oratorio in English, which was a newer form for him. Giustino was one of three new operas composed by Handel that season. In addition he revived earlier operas and oratorios and presented two new oratorios. In the middle of all this work, Handel suffered an illness which temporarily left his right hand paralyzed, as reported in the London Evening Post on 14 May 1737: “The ingenious Mr. Handel is very much indispos’d, and it’s thought with a Pareletick Disorder, he having at present no Use of his Right Hand, which, if he don’t regain, the Publick will be depriv’d of his fine Compositions.” Handel led the performances of his operas and oratorios from the keyboard and often played organ concertos between the acts; nevertheless he was absent from the theatre while he recovered, which he did fairly speedily although he suffered occasional relapses of this ailment for the rest of his life. Of the three new operas Handel presented that season, Giustino was the most successful with audiences.

Gloria (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Gloria (HWV deest, the Latin word meaning “missing”), is a work which was missing from the Handel thematic catalog, but was discovered at the Royal Academy of Music’s library in 2001. Handel may have composed the Gloria, a demanding piece for a coloratura voice, two violins and basso continuo, during his early years in Germany prior to his departure for Italy in 1706 or in Italy in 1707. He divided the liturgical text into eight movements. Later he used parts of it for his compositions Laudate pueri dominum and Utrecht Jubilate. Emma Kirkby, who performed the first recording, released in May 2001, said that “the piece has individuality and charm, good bravura moments, and, more important, some moments of depth, beauty, and poignancy”. The first public performance was on 18 May 2001, sung by soprano Patrizia Kwella with Fiori Musicali and Penelope Rapson as artistic director, at the Hinchingbrooke Performing Arts Centre in Huntingdon. A second performance was given at the International Händel Göttingen Festival on 3 June 2001 by Dominique Labelle with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Nicholas McGegan.

Hallelujah Chorus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

The “Hallelujah Chorus” is set in the key of D major with trumpets and timpani. As a countersubject, the words “for ever – and ever” assume the rhythm of the Hallelujah-motif. The final acclamation “King of Kings…and Lord of Lords” is sung on one note, energized by repeated calls “Hallelujah” and “for ever – and ever”, raised higher and higher (the sopranos and the trumpets part), up to a rest full of tension and a final solemn “Hallelujah”. During the time Handel wrote Messiah, he barely ate anything despite his servants bringing him food as normal each day. One day, one of his servants entered Handel’s room to find the composer in tears. When asked what was wrong, Handel held up the score to the Hallelujah Chorus and said, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself”. The Hallelujah Chorus along with the rest of Messiah was first performed in Dublin, Ireland in 1742. The “Hallelujah Chorus” is predominately performed at Easter and Christmas. It is performed at Christmas because of an erroneous belief it is about the Nativity of Jesus when it was intended to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and the Ascension of Jesus.

Handel flute sonatas

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

List of flute sonatas#

The following are the eight candidates for being flute sonatas by Handel:

References#

Citations Sources * * * *

Handel solo sonatas (Walsh)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Reprinted material from a 1730 forgery#

The 1732 edition (which displays at the bottom of the title page the legend “Note: This is more Corect than the former Edition”) was mostly reprinted from the plates of an earlier 1730 publication, titled Sonates pour un Traversiere un Violon ou Hautbois Con Basso Continuo Composées par G. F. Handel—purportedly printed in Amsterdam by Jeanne Roger, but now shown to have been a forgery by Walsh (dated well after Jeanne Roger’s death in 1722). There was also a third edition of a later, uncertain date, which bears the plate no. 407.

Händel-Gesellschaft

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Before the Händelgesellschaft, at least two collected editions of Handel’s works had been produced. Samuel Arnold’s 180-volume collection was produced between 1787 and 1797—however, it was far from complete, and included, for example, only five of Handel’s 42 Italian operas. The other major collection was produced by the English Handel Society (founded by Sir George Macfarren) between 1843 and 1858—however, it too was incomplete. In 1856, the Händel-Gesellschaft was founded by Chrysander and the literary historian Georg Gottfried Gervinus (with Chrysander the only active editor).

Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Numbering#

The HWV thematic catalogue serves as the modern numbering system for Handel’s compositions. For example, Handel’s Messiah is numbered as HWV 56. The HWV numbers range from 1 to 612, however they do not represent a global date-ordering of composition; i.e. HWV 1 is not Handel’s first work, nor is HWV 612 his last. Instead, the HWV numbers group works into musical categories, and provide a good ordering of the date of composition within each category. The following table lists the categories and the HWV number ranges. There are gaps and anomalies in the HWV numbering system, so the above table is only useful as a guide (see the List of compositions by George Frideric Handel for more details). The HWV numbers do not imply that Handel wrote exactly 612 works. The combination of unnumbered works, lost works, misattributed works, spurious works, variants (e.g. HWV 251 a–d), grouped works (e.g. HWV 229 1–7), and arrangements (e.g. HWV 482 1–4), all render meaningless the determination of the exact number of Handel’s compositions.

Handel's Last Chance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Plot#

In 1742, Handel is heading to Dublin for the premiere of his new oratorio Messiah. Meanwhile, 10-year-old Jamie O’Flaherty is singing for money on the street. Also, Hugh was playing the Flute/Recorder and then stole gold coins from a Man’s pocket. However, he then follows his homeless friend Hugh and steals a chicken with him. Impeded by Handel’s carriage, he tries in vain to escape and gets arrested. While Jamie is being led to the dungeon it is revealed, through the verbal exchange with his mother Mary O’Flaherty, that his father died in hunger but had, as what she calls, an honest living, but Jamie disagrees. At St Patrick’s Cathedral, Handel is disappointed at the amateur cathedral choir, much to Dean Jonathan Swift’s surprise. He becomes even more frustrated after learning that no more singers are available. At the same time, Mrs O’Flaherty keeps asking for Dean Swift’s help for Jamie, but he is too busy to listen. The Dean promises Handel to lend singers from Christ Church despite his abnormal thinking pattern which leads to Handel’s confusion and difficulty with further conversation. Mrs O’Flaherty, sobbing, approaches Handel when he is preparing his work on an off-key harpsichord and grumbling about his circumstances. She asks for his assistance to ensure the Dean’s help, and in return promises him free laundry. Handel eventually agrees despite initial refusal. Mrs O’Flaherty was pleased, thanked him and expressed her faith in his talent before leaving. Jamie attends the Dean’s school with reluctance. He performs poorly for lacking basic knowledge, and gets picked on by Toby Binton, his mean and arrogant prefect. Meanwhile, Handel has to endure the choir, and fires Toby after exposing his lie that he sight-reads. He also finds out that Miss Abbot, the “unparalleled” soprano from Christ Church, is still a disappointment. After Jamie fights back in vain, Toby takes him forward to Dean Swift and Handel to get him into trouble. Handel, however, recognises Jamie and his singing during work. He appoints him as the lead of alto after confirming his talent. Toby and his gang approach and attack Jamie at night. Handel intervenes and takes Jamie to his room. Jamie tells him his story, his frustration with life, and his intention to quit. In response Handel tells Jamie that he must listen to his other voice, which tells right and wrong apart. He also reveals to Jamie, that his career failure stems from that he ignored the music from his heart and composed only to please the audience, and his new work Messiah is perhaps his last chance; he too has to listen to his inner voice and believe in himself. Jamie eventually changes his mind, and makes a deal with Handel that he will stay only for he teach him to read music. Their collaboration goes on successfully. Nevertheless, Mrs O’Flaherty loses her residence and gets imprisoned, after being robbed and therefore unable to pay rent on time. Jamie then assumes her laundry work at night with Hugh despite being inadequate, unbeknownst to Handel nor Dean Swift. As Miss Abbot and the choir is making progress, Handel only finds Jamie constantly exhausted. During work, Hugh finds Handel’s gold watch and intends to keep it, but Jamie insists that it must be returned. The scene is witnessed by Toby, who then steals the watch from Jamie and accuses him of theft, leading to his arrest. In disbelief and reaching Mrs O’Flaherty in vain, Handel meets Hugh, and from whom he learns about Jamie’s circumstances and that he has been working to bail out his mother. He then rushes back to confront Toby, retrieving his watch, therefore vindicates Jamie. Jamie carries out his performance well in the sold out premiere. Among the audience are Dean Swift, Hugh, and Mrs O’Flaherty, proud and moved. After the Hallelujah Chorus, Handel and Jamie receive a standing ovation.

Handel's lost Hamburg operas

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Halle#

Handel was born Georg Friedrich Händel on 23 February 1685 in the German city of Halle. It is unclear what initial musical education he received; his father, Georg Händel, was not a music lover, and did not at first appreciate or encourage his son’s precocious talents. Nevertheless, by the age of ten Handel had become an accomplished organist; his playing in the royal chapel at Weißenfels, where his half-brother Karl was in the service of the Duke of Saxe-Weißenfels, impressed the duke, who persuaded Händel senior that the boy should have a proper musical education. As a result, Handel began formal study under Friedrich Zachow, the organist of the Lutheran church at Halle. Handel’s biographer Jonathan Keates writes that: “From Zachow Handel learned not only a great deal about the line and shape of an aria, about strong, adventurous bass lines and solid choral writing, but also about those delicacies of instrumental colouring which he later perfected in his own style”. Handel’s musical development also benefited from an early and lasting friendship with Georg Philipp Telemann, whom he met in 1700. In February 1702 Handel enrolled at the University of Halle, perhaps intending to study law. In March he took up the post of organist at Halle’s Calvinist cathedral (Domkirche), a prestigious appointment for one so young and indicative of his burgeoning musical reputation in the city. At some time, possibly in late 1702 or early 1703, Handel visited Berlin, where his father had held an honorary post as physician to the elector who, in 1701, had become the Prussian king Frederick I. In Berlin Handel first experienced Italian opera, and may have met the Italian composers Giovanni Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti, who were writing operas for Frederick’s court. The king heard of Handel’s abilities, and wanted him to train as a future court composer, but Handel’s horizons had been broadened by his sojourn in Berlin and he was developing his own ideas for his future. He declined the king’s offer, and returned to Halle to fulfil his year’s contract at the Domkirche. With few career prospects available in his home city, Handel would have liked to go to Italy, but this, he realised, was not yet practicable, since he lacked both cash and contacts. Instead in mid-1703 he left Halle for Hamburg, a thriving free city which housed the leading opera house in northern Germany.

Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hercules (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Hercules was first given at the King’s Theatre in London on 5 January 1745 in concert style. There were only two performances in the original run. The role of Lichas was written first as a small one for tenor, but it was greatly expanded before the premiere to provide Susannah Cibber with six airs. She was too ill to sing on the first night, and the music was either omitted or redistributed on that occasion. She sang in the second performance on 12 January. The music for the chorus “Wanton God” and the air “Cease, ruler of the day” was never given in this opera: the latter was adapted for the final chorus of Theodora. The work was a total failure and caused Handel to suspend his season. Hercules obtained three further hearings, two in 1749 and one in 1752, for which the role of Lichas was eliminated, and much of the other music was also cut. Hercules was originally performed in the theatre as an oratorio without stage action. It is argued that this contributed to its later neglect as it did not make the transition into the church and the concert hall successfully. When fully staged it was reappraised and acclaimed by Romain Rolland, Henry Prunières, Paul Henry Lang and others as one of the supreme masterpieces of its age.

Il pastor fido (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

It was composed in 1712 and first performed on 22 November of the same year under the composer. The opera opened to a largely hostile reception, probably due to disappointment after the success of Rinaldo: one diarist noted critically that “the scene represented only the Country of Arcadia; the Habits costumes were old – the Opera short”. The roles of Mirtillo and Silvio were originally sung by the castratos Valeriano Pellegrini and Valentino Urbani. The overture is in six movements and is long for its time: it is thought that it may have been originally composed as an unrelated orchestral suite. The revival of the spring of 1734, in which Giovanni Carestini took the role of Mirtillo, was far more successful, but Handel significantly altered the music: only seven of the original arias remained, and those cut were replaced by arias from Handel’s cantatas or earlier operas. This production proved popular and enjoyed a run of 13 performances. In the winter of 1734 Il pastor fido was revived again: Carestini remained as Mirtillo and the English tenor John Beard took the role of Silvio. A newly composed prologue, Terpsicore, was added to the opera for this run of performances. The prologue consisted of solo arias, choral movements, and orchestral writing for dance: the danced role of Terpsichore was performed by Marie Sallé, whose dance company had been engaged by Covent Garden manager John Rich. As with all Baroque opera seria, Il Pastor Fido went unperformed for many years, but with the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s,Il Pastor Fido, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. Among other performances, the work was performed as part of the London Handel Festival in 2012 and by the Handel Festival Halle in 2019.

Imeneo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

The opera’s setting is “A Pleasant Garden” in Athens. While making their offerings to Ceres, goddess of fertility, the maidens of Athens have been set upon and abducted by pirates. Tirinto laments his lost love, Rosmene, while Argenio, an Anthenian Senator, grieves for his daughter Clomiri, a friend of Rosmene. Imeneo appears and announces that he has freed all the captives. In order to get close to his love Rosmene, he had been part of the maiden group making offerings, disguised in women’s clothes, and had been swept up in the abductions. He boasts that while the pirates slept, he took the opportunity to kill them all. There is general rejoicing, and when Imeneo demands to marry Rosmene in recognition of his great deed, Argenio and his fellow senators agree, telling Rosmene that it is her duty to accept Imeneo. Argenio attempts to persuade her of the power of gratitude by telling her the fable of Androcles and the Lion, in which the lion gratefully kisses Androcles rather than killing him, recognising him as the man who had once removed a thorn from his paw. Rosmene, however, loves Tirinto, and is conflicted between faithfulness to him and duty and gratitude toward Imeneo. Clomiri has feelings for Imeneo, and flirts with him, suggesting that he should transfer his affections to someone who already deeply loves him. But he is resolute and pretends not to understand Clomiri’s advances. Knowing that she must disappoint one of her suitors, Rosmene settles on a device for seemingly delegating the decision to a higher power. Feigning madness, she enacts a vision of Radamanto, one of the judges of the dead in the underworld, who cuts out her heart with his sword. Her heart will choose for her, after hearing from both suitors. She ‘faints’, and on coming round declares for Imeneo. The chorus sings of the need to bow down not to passion, but to reason; one should not follow feelings and fidelity, but gratitude and honour.

Israel in Egypt

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Handel had long been resident in London and had enjoyed great success as a composer of Italian operas there. However, in 1733 a rival opera company to Handel’s, The Opera of the Nobility, had split the audience for Italian opera in London. There was not enough support for two Italian opera companies and Handel began to find new audiences through presenting oratorio and other choral works in English. Handel’s oratorio Saul, with a text by Charles Jennens, was presented at the King’s Theatre in January 1739, and for the same season Handel composed Israel in Egypt, writing the music in one month between 1 October and 1 November 1738. Israel in Egypt is one of only two oratorios by Handel with a text compiled from verses from the Bible, the other being Messiah. The librettist of Israel in Egypt is uncertain, but most scholars believe Charles Jennens compiled both texts. Israel in Egypt and Messiah also share the unusual characteristic among Handel oratorios in that, unlike the others, they do not have casts of named characters singing dialogue and performing an unstaged drama, but contain many choruses set to biblical texts. The libretto of Israel in Egypt is mainly based on the Book of Exodus, with the account of The Exodus of the Israelites in the first part, and the Song of the Sea in the latter part, called Moses Song by Handel. In composing Israel in Egypt, in what was by then his common practice, Handel recycled music from his own previous compositions and also made extensive use of musical parody, the re-working of music by other composers. For the opening part of Israel in Egypt Handel slightly re-wrote his 1737 Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline, “The Ways of Zion do Mourn”, As an added attraction, the small baroque orchestra accompanying was also used for an organ concerto, the Cuckoo and the Nightingale, which served as an interlude. However, London audiences at that time were not used to such extensive choral pieces presented as commercial entertainment, and perhaps particularly the opening dirge, of about thirty minutes in length, for the death of Joseph, adapted from the funeral anthem for a recently deceased Queen, contributed to the failure of Israel in Egypt at its first performance. many contemporary performances of the work use Handel’s original three part version.

Jephtha (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Act 1#

The Israelites have been under the rule of the neighbouring Ammonites for eighteen years and have adopted many of their ways and worship of their gods. They face the loss of their country and their religious identity unless they rebel, as Zebul tells them (Accompanied recitative: It must be so). Zebul advises them to recall his half-brother Jephtha from exile so he can lead them to freedom and to repent of their worship of the Ammonites’ idols (Air: Pour forth no more unheeded pray’rs). The Israelites vow to stop their sacrifices to the Ammonite gods Moloch (a god associated with child sacrifice) and Chemosh and thenceforth to worship Jehovah only (Chorus: No more to Ammon’s god and king). Jephtha, trusting in his own virtue, agrees to lead the Israelites in battle against their enemies on condition that if he is victorious he will be their leader in peacetime afterwards (Air: Virtue my soul shall still embrace). His wife Storgé supports his mission to win freedom for their country but will miss him sorely while he is away (Air: In gentle murmurs will I mourn). Iphis, only child of Jephtha and Storgé, is asked by her sweetheart Hamor to marry him soon (Air: Dull delay, in piercing anguish) but she tells him to prove himself worthy of her by fighting valiantly under her father’s command first (Air: Take the heart you fondly gave). He agrees to this and the pair look forward to a happy future together after their country has achieved its freedom (Duet: These labours past, how happy we!) Jephtha, alone, vows to the Almighty that if he is allowed to win victory over Israel’s enemies, he will sacrifice to God the first living thing he sees upon his return after the battle (Accompanied recitative: What mean these doubtful fancies of the brain?) The Israelites implore divine assistance (Chorus:O God, behold our sore distress). Jephtha’s wife Storgé is unaware of her husband’s rash vow but she is experiencing presentiments of tragedy (Air: Scenes of horror, scenes of woe). She explains to her daughter that she has had dreams of danger to Iphis, but Iphis attempts to dismiss her mother’s nightmares as meaningless (Air: The smiling dawn of happy days). The Israelites have sent an embassy to the king of the Ammonites offering peace terms, but it has been rejected. Therefore, Jephtha orders the Israelites to prepare for war and they express their confidence that God will aid them (Chorus: When His loud voice in thunder spoke).

Joseph and his Brethren

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

The libretto is based on the Biblical story of Joseph found in Genesis chapters 38–45. The libretto is hard to read without background context because the audience of Handel’s oratorios was very familiar with the stories of the Hebrew Bible and would have known the whole story of Joseph as part of their cultural knowledge. Taking advantage of this, Miller tells the story in poetical form, leaving out events and background information which give it a fragmentary feel if read straight through. The story (but not the oratorio) begins when Joseph’s eleven brothers, jealous that their father Jacob loved Joseph best of all of them, seize him and sell him into slavery, telling their father that he has been eaten by wild beasts. The slave traders took Joseph to Egypt, where he became a servant in the house of Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard. A good servant, Joseph eventually rose to be the head of the household servants. Potiphar’s wife became attracted to Joseph and attempted to seduce him, but he rebuffed her. Because of this, she accused him of making advances on her and he was placed in jail. While in jail, Joseph interpreted the dreams of two of his prison-mates, both servants in Pharaoh’s household. One of them Phanor, promised to help free Joseph from prison when he was restored to his position in Pharaoh’s household, but forgot and several years pass. Act 1 opens with Joseph lamenting his lot in life, abandoned, in prison. Pharaoh has been troubled by dreams which no one can interpret for him, and Phanor remembers Joseph and fetches him. Joseph comes before Pharaoh and, calling on Jehovah, interprets Pharaoh’s dreams: He says that the dreams foretell of 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine and that Pharaoh should store food during the time of plenty for the time of famine. Meanwhile, Asenath, daughter of the high priest Potiphera, falls in love with the young Joseph. Pharaoh rejoices at Joseph’s interpretations, makes him his prime minister to oversee the saving of food, names him “Zaphnath”, and offers him Asenath’s hand in marriage. Now, before act 2 begins, more biblical story needs to be inserted: After Joseph saves wisely during the seven years of plenty, the famine begins. Because Egypt is now well-positioned for food, people from afar come to purchase grain to replace their own failing crops. Among these are Joseph’s brothers, who do not recognize him (although he recognizes them). He accuses them of being spies and orders them to leave one of them, Simeon, here in jail while they go home and return with their youngest brother Benjamin (who did not come the first time). Act 2 begins a year later, with Simeon still languishing in jail and his fear and guilt over having betrayed Joseph racking his brain. Joseph plays into the dramatic irony and manipulates Simeon to feel guilt for having abandoned Joseph. When his brothers return with Benjamin, they state their case again for the plight of their homeland in Canaan and he sells them grain and sends them on their way. Not mentioned in the libretto, Joseph arranges to have a silver cup of his hidden in Benjamin’s things. In act 3, Joseph has the Egyptian guards catch up to and seize the brothers, bring them back, and accuses them of stealing the cup. Playing the guilt and drama to the hilt, he demands to keep Benjamin as a prisoner to test the brothers if they will abandon Benjamin as they did him all those years ago. The brothers plead for their fathers sake—the heartbreak of losing another youngest son would kill him—and Simeon offers himself in Benjamin’s stead. Passing Joseph’s test, he reveals himself as their long-lost brother. All sing praises to God and the country of Egypt which Joseph has so gloriously managed and Joseph and his brethren settle in this happy land.

Joshua (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Instrumentation#

The work is scored for strings, two oboes, flute, two trumpets, two horns, timpani, and continuo.

Part One#

The Children of Israel celebrate the end of their journey over the Jordan River and into the land of Canaan, praising God for his blessings and Joshua for his leadership. An angel appears to Joshua and appoints him to lead an army against Jericho. Joshua prepares his soldiers for the attack. Othniel, one of Joshua’s warriors, is betrothed to Achsah and readies himself to part from his love and go into battle with Joshua.

Judas Maccabaeus (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

Morell’s libretto is based on the deuterocanonical (or apocryphal) book 1 Maccabees (2–8), with motives added from the Jewish Antiquities by Josephus. The events depicted in the oratorio are from the period 170–160 BC when Judea was ruled by the Seleucid Empire which undertook to destroy the Jewish religion. Being ordered to worship Zeus, many Jews obeyed under the threat of persecution; however, some did not. One who defied was the elderly priest Mattathias who killed a fellow Jew who was about to offer a pagan sacrifice. After tearing down a pagan altar, Mattathias retreated to the hills and gathered others who were willing to fight for their faith. Handel’s music depicts the changing moods of the Jewish people as their fortunes vary from dejection to jubilation.

Keyboard suite in D minor (HWV 437)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

The work consists of five movements:

In popular culture#

The Sarabande has been the subject of a number of instrumental arrangements for inclusion in film scores or TV shows. It has also been used as thematic material for original works. In most of the examples below, only the original Sarabande without Handel’s variations was used. The work was used in an orchestral arrangement by Leonard Rosenman for the Stanley Kubrick period drama film Barry Lyndon (1975). The work was then recycled in the UK TV advert for the tropical drink Lilt. In 2005, the Sarabande was featured in the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 1 episode “Charlie Got Molested”. Danish DJ Christian Steen Jensen (alias Camena) used the work in his release of a set of Sarabande (2006) variations. The Dave Gorman British TV comedy series Modern Life is Goodish (2013-2017; 2025) uses the Sarabande and both of its variations to accompany his ‘found poem’ section in every episode, performed by the Billroth String Quartet/Ensemble. The Sarabande was featured in the episode “Warp and Weft” (2017; S02E03) of the second season of the ITV period drama TV series Victoria. An orchestral version of the work was used on the first episode of The ABC Murders (2018), a television mini-series based on the Agatha Christie novel The A.B.C. Murders (1936), starring John Malkovich as Poirot. Anders plays this Suite in D Minor, Allemande on the piano in the film “Oslo, August 31st”; director Joachim Trier - right before he dies by heroin overdose.

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Handel composed the work over the period of 19 January to 4 February 1740, and it was premiered on 27 February 1740 at the Royal Theatre of Lincoln’s Inn Fields. At the urging of one of Handel’s librettists, Charles Jennens, Milton’s two poems, “L’Allegro” and “il Penseroso”, were arranged by James Harris, interleaving them to create dramatic tension between the personified characters of Milton’s poems (L’Allegro or the “Joyful man” and il Penseroso or the “Contemplative man”). The first two movements consist of this dramatic dialog between Milton’s poems. In an attempt to unite the two poems into a singular “moral design”, at Handel’s request, Jennens added a new poem, “il Moderato”, to create a third movement. The popular concluding aria and chorus, “As Steals the Morn” is adapted from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, V.i.65–68. Michael O’Connell and John Powell have published an analysis of Handel’s setting of the text in his musical treatment.

La resurrezione

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

First performance#

A large orchestra was employed for the occasion, consisting of 39 strings of varying types, 1 viola da gamba, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, and 4 oboes. The staging and scenery were also lavishly produced, and though Roman censorship of the time forbade opera, La resurrezione was certainly produced in an operatic manner. It was produced at Ruspoli’s Palazzo in the main hall on the ground floor. A series of terraced seats, 4 in number, was built for the orchestra, curved towards the audience and rising at the back. Twenty-eight specially commissioned music stands were built for the occasion, engraved with either the coat-of-arms of Ruspoli or his wife. The proscenium was decorated with a tapestry depicting cherubs, palm trees, and foliage: in the middle of which hung a plaque with the name of the oratorio. The 46 letters were spread out over 4 lines, each letter about 18 cm in height. These letters were brought into prominence by the backing light of seventy light pans. The canvas backdrop represented pictorially the characters of Handel’s oratorio, and in the centre was depicted the resurrection itself. The role of Mary Magdalene was sung at the first performance by the soprano Margherita Durastanti. The participation of female singers was prohibited by Papal edict, and the Pope went to the length of admonishing Ruspoli for permitting Durastanti to take part. For the remaining performances, her role was sung by a castrato. The only details given concerning this individual are that he was called “Pippo”, and that he was in service to the former Queen Casimire. Durastanti later sang the title role in Handel’s Agrippina. The aria “Ho un non so che”, which she had sung as Mary Magdalene anticipating the resurrection, appears entirely unadapted for her to sing in Agrippina, though in a different context. The violins at the first performance of La resurrezione were led by the famous violinist Arcangelo Corelli (who also conducted the work). It was most likely Ernst Christian Hesse who played the demanding viola da gamba solo part. Other catalogues of Handel’s music have referred to the work as HG xxxix; and HHA i/3.

Lascia ch'io pianga

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Its melody is first found in act 3 of Handel’s 1705 opera Almira as a sarabande; the score for this can be seen on page 81 of Vol. 55 of Friedrich Chrysander. Handel then used the tune for the aria “Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa”, or “Leave the Thorn, Take the Rose”, for the character Piacere in part 2 of his 1707 oratorio Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (which was much later, in 1737, revised as Il trionfo del Tempo e della Verità). Four years after that, in 1711, Handel used the music again, this time for his London opera Rinaldo and its act 2 aria “Lascia ch’io pianga” (“Let me weep”), a heartfelt plea for her liberty addressed by the character Almirena to her abductor Argante. Rinaldo was a triumph, and it is with this work that the aria is chiefly associated. The aria has since been recorded by many artists, and is featured in several films including Farinelli; All Things Fair by Bo Widerberg; L.I.E. by Michael Cuesta; Antichrist and Nymphomaniac, both by Lars von Trier. In 2023, it featured in instrumental form, within the score of the anime film The Imaginary by Studio Ponoc. Most recently, in 2025, it featured in the film We Bury the Dead.

Lotario (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Paolo Rolli commented in a letter at the time to Giuseppe Riva that “everyone thinks (Lotario) a very bad opera”. There were 10 performances, but it was not repeated. Handel reused pieces in later operas. Among other performances, Lotario was staged at the London Handel Festival in 1999, by the Handel Festival, Halle in 2004 and by the Stadttheater Bern, Switzerland, in 2019.

Synopsis#

*Scene:Italy, about 950. Before the action begins, Berengario had ruled Italy together with Adelaide’s husband, but desiring all the power for himself, Berengario had Adelaide’s husband poisoned and then tried to force her to marry his son Idelberto, who loves her. Adelaide refused, and now, as Queen of Italy, she has taken refuge in a fortress in Pavia.

Love in Bath

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Numbers#

I. The Pump Room (after Parnasso in festa)
II. Beau Nash (after “Il dolce foco mio”, Rodrigo)
III. The Linleys (after Parnasso in festa)
IV. Hunting Dance
V. Love Scene (after Il pastor fido)
VI. The Quarrel (after Il pastor fido)
VII. The Pump Room (reprise)
VIII. The Plot
IX. The Weary Flunkies
X. The Exquisites (after Parnasso in festa)
XI. Second Love Scene (after Rodrigo)
XII. March (from a Handel serenade for wind instruments)
XIII. Sarabande
XIV. Minuet (after Il pastor fido)
XV. Hornpipe (after Il pastor fido)
XVI. Rondeau (after Ariodante)
XVII. Gigue (after Rodrigo)
XVIII. March (reprise)
XIX. Interlude
XX. Serenade (“Sospiretto d’un labbro pallido” from Il pastor fido)
XXI. The Elopement (after Parnasso in festa)
XXII. Discovery—Finale (after Parnasso in festa and Serse) Source: EMI.

Plot and scenes#

The movements of the ballet, and the action as described by Beecham in the score, are as follows: 1. The Pump Room. :“The scene is a large hall, one of the pump rooms in the baths, and various persons are taking the waters or walking about. In the centre of the background and covering nearly one half of it are tall, wide curtains screening what is afterwards disclosed to be an egress into the gardens behind. It is a bright morning in summer.” 2. Beau Nash :“The Master of Ceremonies, Beau Nash, enters and salutes the water-drinkers. He announces a fête and concert for the evening at which the beautiful Miss Linley will sing. Beau Nash is a handsome, genial person, slightly pompous and in his early 40s.” 3. The Linleys :“Enter Squire Squaretoes followed by Mr and Miss Linley. The squire is a bucolic and awkward type, obviously purse-proud and vain. Mr Linley is amiable, fussy and self-important. Miss Linley is about 18 and modest in appearance. It is clear that she does not welcome the attentions of the squire, although these are supported by her father.” 4. Hunting Dance :“Sheridan enters in hunting costume: he and his four friends, who are equipped with hunting horns and riding whips, perform a lively dance.” 5. Love Scene :“Sheridan observes Miss Linley and is presented to her by Beau Nash. He instantly becomes enamoured of her and she is equally attracted to him. The squire and Mr Linley have retired to the background, where they take the waters and converse with friends. Sheridan declares his love, but Miss Linley indicates the obstacles in the way.” 6. The Quarrel :“The attention of the squire and Mr Linley is now drawn to the tender passages between the young couple and they display marked dissatisfaction. Miss Linley endeavours to conciliate her father, but without effect, and she is hurried by him from the hall, the squire following.” 7. The Pump Room :“The water-drinkers leave the hall by the exits at the two sides of the scene (music same as No.1).” 8. The Plot :“Sheridan implores the advice and aid of Beau Nash, who at first refuses to have anything to do with the affair. Gradually he is won over to a plan whereby Sheridan can run off with Miss Linley, provided she consents. Beau Nash, Sheridan and his four friends leave together.” 9. The Weary Flunkeys :“Three tall flunkeys enter the empty stage and draw aside the tall curtains in the background to expose to view a spacious garden flanked by an elegant building behind it. The flunkeys are world-weary creatures who move with the greatest deliberation, perform their task with extreme reluctance and yawn frequently.” 10. The Exquisites (Madrigal) :“There enter from the garden eight persons clad in the most fashionable clothes of the period. These are the exquisites, who perform a slow and stately dance. There are four men and four women and they make their appearance in couples. Finally they go out.” 11. Second Love Scene :“Enter Miss Linley and Sheridan, the former from the garden and the latter by one of the pump room entrances. Miss Linley is agitated and apprehensive. Sheridan does his best to reassure her, discloses his plan for their elopement and obtains her approval of it. They go off in opposite directions. By this time the light has changed so as to present the appearance of late afternoon.” 12. March :“A procession of the whole company led by Beau Nash enters the stage from the garden.” 13. Sarabande :“This is the first of a set of formal ballet movements.” 14. Minuet :“A solo dance for Miss Linley.” 15. Hornpipe :“The first measure is danced by a group of naval officers, the second by a midshipman, the third by the principal officer, the fourth by a group of girls, the fifth by girls and men.” The number ends with a prominent quotation from “Rule, Britannia”, which Beecham said he added to annoy the Americans. 16. Rondeau :“A general ensemble.” 17. Gigue :“A general ensemble.” 18. March :“The whole company retires as it made its appearance (music same as No.12).” 19. Interlude :“The stage is empty. Light gradually fades, leaving the foreground in semi-darkness. Lights are seen in the windows of the building in the far background. The evening entertainment is beginning.” 20. Serenade :“Miss Linley is heard singing her song. Beau Nash enters from the garden and is met by Sheridan and his four friends. The final arrangements for the elopement have been completed. A parson has been secured to marry them immediately. Beau Nash and his friends go off quietly. Sheridan remains to wait for Miss Linley.” 21. The Elopement. :“Miss Linley runs in from the garden. Beau Nash urges them to hurry, and she disappears with Sheridan.” 22. Discovery—Finale :“Her absence is discovered and the whole company enters the scene. The squire and Mr Linley are furious, but everyone else seems delighted. The uproar is silenced by the appearance of the parson, who informs the company that Miss Linley and Mr Sheridan are now man and wife. Evident satisfaction of everyone except the squire and Mr Linley, but the latter accepts the fait accompli. Miss Linley and Sheridan reappear, and receive the congratulations of the assembled company.”

Messiah (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The composer George Frideric Handel, born in Halle in Brandenburg-Prussia (modern Germany) in 1685, took up permanent residence in London in 1712, and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. Within a large and varied musical output, Handel was a vigorous champion of Italian opera, which he had introduced to London in 1711 with Rinaldo. He subsequently wrote and presented more than 40 such operas in London’s theatres. By the early 1730s public taste for Italian opera was beginning to fade. The popular success of John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepusch’s The Beggar’s Opera (first performed in 1728) had heralded a spate of English-language ballad-operas that mocked the pretensions of Italian opera. With box-office receipts falling, Handel’s productions were increasingly reliant on private subsidies from the nobility. Such funding became harder to obtain after the launch in 1730 of the Opera of the Nobility, a rival company to his own. Handel overcame this challenge, but he spent large sums of his own money in doing so. Although prospects for Italian opera were declining, Handel remained committed to the genre, but as alternatives to his staged works he began to introduce English-language oratorios. In Rome in 1707–08 he had written two Italian oratorios at a time when opera performances in the city were temporarily forbidden under papal decree. His first venture into English oratorio had been Esther, which was written and performed for a private patron in about 1718. In 1735 Handel received the text for a new oratorio named Saul from its librettist Charles Jennens, a wealthy landowner with musical and literary interests. Because Handel’s main creative concern was still with opera, he did not write the music for Saul until 1738, in preparation for his 1738–39 theatrical season. The work, after opening at the King’s Theatre in January 1739 to a warm reception, was quickly followed by the less successful oratorio Israel in Egypt (which may also have come from Jennens). Although Handel continued to write operas, the trend towards English-language productions became irresistible as the decade ended. After three performances of his last Italian opera Deidamia in January and February 1741, he abandoned the genre. In July 1741 Jennens sent him a new libretto for an oratorio; in a letter dated 10 July to his friend Edward Holdsworth, Jennens wrote: “I hope Handel will lay out his whole Genius & Skill upon it, that the Composition may excell all his former Compositions, as the Subject excells every other subject. The Subject is Messiah”.

Messiah (Mormon Tabernacle Choir album)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Critical reception#

At the time of its release, music critics commented on the choir’s “great romantic choral tone, deep with feeling that is able to communicate the inner meaning of the world’s great choral music.” Paul Hume, music critic for the Washington Post, wrote that “this sound of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has been a special beacon for those who love the world’s great choral music.” In 1963 the album was RIAA certified as a Gold album.

Messiah Part I

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Messiah, the oratorio#

The libretto by Jennens is drawn from the Bible: mostly from the Old Testament of the King James Bible, but with several psalms taken from the Book of Common Prayer. Regarding the text, Jennens commented: “…the Subject excells every other Subject. The Subject is Messiah …”. Messiah differs from Handel’s other oratorios in that it does not contain an encompassing narrative, instead offering contemplation on different aspects of the Christian Messiah:

Messiah Part II

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Messiah, the oratorio#

The libretto by Charles Jennens is entirely drawn from the Bible, mostly from the King James Bible, whereas several psalms are taken from the Book of Common Prayer. The librettist commented: “… the Subject excells every other Subject. The Subject is Messiah …”. Messiah differs from Handel’s other oratorios by telling no story, instead offering reflections on different aspects of the Christian Messiah. Christopher Hogwood comments:

Structure and concept#

The oratorio’s structure follows the liturgical year; Part I corresponding with Advent, Christmas and the life of Jesus, Part II with Lent, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost, Part III with the end of the church year, dealing with the end of time, the Resurrection of the dead and Christ’s glorification in heaven. The sources are drawn mostly from the Old Testament. Even the birth and death of Jesus are told in the words of the prophet Isaiah, the most prominent source of the libretto. The only true scene of the oratorio is taken from the Gospel of Luke, the annunciation to the shepherds. The imagery of shepherd and lamb features prominently, in the aria “He shall feed His flock like a shepherd”, the only extended piece to talk about the Messiah on earth, in the opening of Part II, “Behold the Lamb of God”, in the chorus “All we like sheep”, and in the closing chorus of the work, “Worthy is the Lamb”. Occasionally verses from different biblical sources are combined in one movement, but more often a coherent text section is set in different consecutive movements, such as the first “scene”, the annunciation of Christian salvation, as a sequence of three movements, recitative, aria and chorus.

Messiah Part III

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Messiah, the oratorio#

Structure and concept#

Music for the Royal Fireworks

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rehearsal and final production#

During the preparations, Handel and John Montagu, Duke of Montagu, the Master-General of the Ordnance and the officer responsible for the Royal Fireworks, had an argument about adding violins. The duke made clear to Handel that King George had a preference for only martial instruments (winds and percussion), and hoped there would be “no fiddles”. Handel omitted the string instruments against his will. Also, against Handel’s will, there was a full rehearsal of the music in Vauxhall Gardens and not in Green Park. On 21 April 1749 an audience, claimed to be over twelve thousand people, each paying two shillings and six pence (half a crown) rushed to get there, causing a three-hour traffic jam of carriages on London Bridge, the only vehicular route to the area south of the river. Six days later, on 27 April, the musicians performed in a specially constructed building designed by Servandoni, a theatre designer, assisted by four Italians. Andrea Casali and Andrea Soldi designed the decorations. The fireworks themselves were devised and controlled by Gaetano Ruggieri and Giuseppe Sarti, both from Bologna. Charles Frederick was the controller, captain Thomas Desaguliers was the chief fire master. The display was not as successful as the music itself: the weather was rainy, causing many misfires, and in the middle of the show the right pavilion caught fire. Also, a woman’s clothes were set on fire by a stray rocket and other fireworks burned two soldiers and blinded a third. Yet another soldier had his hand blown off during an earlier rehearsal for the 101 cannon which were used during the event.

Muzio Scevola

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera’s initial run of performances began at the King’s Theatre in London on 15 April 1721. Handel revived the work on 7 November 1722 when it received a further five performances. It was also performed in Hamburg. The first modern performance was in Essen in 1928. The work receives occasional concert performances and stagings today. Among other performances, it featured in the Lucerne Festival of 2008.

Synopsis#

*Scene: Rome, about 509 B.C.

Nabal (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dramatis Personae#

Nabal (bass)
Abigail (soprano)
David (tenor)
Asaph (soprano)
Shepherd (soprano)

External links#

gfhandel.org Nabal review .

Nisi Dominus (Handel)

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Movements#

The work has the following movements:

External links#

*Psalm 127 at ChoralWiki

O lucenti, o sereni occhi

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History#

Handel’s original manuscript for the cantata has not survived, but a copy in the Santini Collection suggests that the work originated under the patronage of Ruspoli. The work can be dated to the spring or summer of 1707, and Handel reused aspects of the first aria in his opera Rodrigo in the same year.

Synopsis#

Even though the work is performed by a female voice, the text does not reveal whether the “voice” is male or female. The first aria relates how beautiful eyes cause the singer to languish and die. The second aria tells how blazing eyes cause the singer both pleasure and pain.

Occasional Oratorio

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Jacobite rising#

The Stuart armies, based in Scotland, had invaded England and got as far as Derby when the King’s armies, under the command of his son Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, had driven them back to Scotland in December 1745. The fighting was at a hiatus due to winter weather and the Duke of Cumberland was in London in February 1746.

Structure#

Handel composed the Occasional Oratorio hastily in January and February 1746, borrowing and re-arranging some movements from previous compositions, and premiered it immediately on 14 February 1746 with Willem de Fesch, Élisabeth Duparc, Elisabetta de Gambarini, John Beard, and Thomas Reinhold at Covent Garden Theatre. It contains 44 movements split over three parts. Part One, generally speaking, concerns the miseries of war and the vengeance of a wrathful God, Part Two the blessings of peace, and Part Three a thanksgiving for victory. The festive four-part overture, with trumpets and drums, is sometimes performed separately. The famous chorus “Prepare the Hymn” (a paraphrase of Psalm 81:1-2) is the 26th movement and appears in the second part as 2.10. Aria, Chorus: “To God, our strength, sing loud”. The second minuet from the Music for the Royal Fireworks was reused from this oratorio. Handel’s coronation anthem Zadok the Priest was also reused as the finale to the oratorio, but without the second movement “And all the people rejoic’d”.

Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Words#

Handel sets a poem which the English poet John Dryden wrote in 1687. The main theme of the text is the Pythagorean theory of harmonia mundi, that music was a central force in the Earth’s creation.

Music#

Ebenezer Prout has commented on various facets of Handel’s instrumentation in the work and Edmund Bowles has written on Handel’s use of timpani in the work.

Movements#

Overture: Larghetto e staccato—allegro—minuet # Recitative (tenor): From harmony, from heavenly harmony # Chorus: From harmony, from heavenly harmony # Aria (soprano): What passion cannot music raise and quell! # Aria (tenor) and Chorus: The trumpet’s loud clangour # March # Aria (soprano): The soft complaining flute # Aria (tenor): Sharp violins proclaim their jealous pangs # Aria (soprano): But oh! What art can teach # Aria (soprano): Orpheus could lead the savage race # Recitative (soprano): But bright Cecilia raised the wonder higher # Grand Chorus with (soprano): As from the power of sacred lays#

From Harmony (Recit)#

TENOR: From harmony, from heavenly harmony This universal frame began. When nature, underneath a heap Of jarring atoms lay, And could not heave her head. The tuneful Voice, was heard from high, Arise! Arise! Arise ye more than dead! Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry, In order to their stations leap! And music’s power obey! And music’s power obey!

Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure#

Each of the seven stanzas of the ode concludes with the following words sung by the chorus: : The day that gave great Anna birth, : Who fix’d a lasting peace on Earth. * (Alto solo with solo trumpet over sustained strings) :Eternal source of light divine :With double warmth thy beams display :And with distinguish’d glory shine :To add a lustre to this day. *(Alto solo, then chorus with orchestra) :The day that gave great Anna birth :Who fix’d a lasting peace on earth. *(Soprano solo, then chorus with orchestra) :Let all the winged race with joy :Their wonted homage sweetly pay :Whilst towr’ing in the azure sky :They celebrate this happy day. :The day that gave great Anna birth :Who fix’d a lasting peace on earth. *(Alto solo, then alto and soprano solo with chorus and orchestra) :Let flocks and herds their fear forget :Lions and wolves refuse their prey :And all in friendly consort meet :Made glad by this propitious day. :The day that gave great Anna birth :Who fix’d a lasting peace on earth. *(Bass and alto duet, then chorus with orchestra. The ground bass of this movement with octave leaps was reused by Handel in his “Concerto a due cori”.) :Let rolling streams their gladness show :With gentle murmurs whilst they play :And in their wild meanders flow :Rejoicing in this blessed day. :The day that gave great Anna birth :Who fix’d a lasting peace on earth. * (Soprano and alto duet with solo oboe and orchestra) :Kind Health descends on downy wings :Angels conduct her on the way. :T’our glorious Queen new life she brings :And swells our joys upon this day. * (Alto and soprano, then chorus with orchestra) :The day that gave great Anna birth :Who fix’d a lasting peace on earth. * (Bass solo, then chorus with orchestra) :Let envy then conceal her head :And blasted faction glide away. :No more her hissing tongues we’ll dread :Secure in this auspicious day. :The day that gave great Anna birth :Who fix’d a lasting peace on earth. * (Alto solo then chorus with echo effects, solo trumpet and orchestra) :United nations shall combine :To distant climes their sound convey :That Anna’s actions are divine :And this the most important day! :The day that gave great Anna birth :Who fix’d a lasting peace on earth.

Ombra mai fu

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Context#

The opera was a commercial failure, lasting only five performances in London after its premiere. In the 19th century, however, the aria was rediscovered and became one of Handel’s best-known pieces. Handel adapted the aria from the setting by Giovanni Bononcini, who, in turn, adapted it from the setting by Francesco Cavalli. All three composers had produced settings of the same opera libretto by Nicolò Minato.

Music#

Originally composed to be sung by a soprano castrato (and typically sung in modern performances of Serse by a countertenor, contralto or a mezzo-soprano; sometimes even by a tenor or high baritone an octave below), it has been arranged for other voice types and instruments, including solo organ, solo piano, violin or cello and piano, and string ensembles, often under the title “Largo from Xerxes” or (as in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town) simply “Handel’s Largo”, although the original tempo is marked larghetto. It has been used by Haendel himself as the main theme of the third movement (larguetto) of the so called “concerto pasticcio” in D dur for oboe . In the opera, the aria is preceded by a short recitativo accompagnato of 9 bars, setting the scene (“Frondi tenere e belle”). The aria itself is also short; it consists of 52 bars and typically lasts three to four minutes. The instrumentation is for a string section: first and second violins, viola, and basses. The key signature is F major, the time signature is 3/4 time. The vocal range covers C 4 to F 5 with a tessitura from F 4 to F 5 .

Oreste

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 18 December 1734. A notice in the London press said : Last Night their Majesties were at the Theatre Royal in Covent-Garden, to see the Opera of Orestes, which was perform’d with great Applause. (London Bee, 19 December 1734). The work was performed three times in Handel’s lifetime and was first revived in 1988. and was staged for the first time in the USA at Juilliard School in 2003. The work was staged by the Royal Opera, London, at Wilton’s Music Hall in 2016 and by the Handel Festival, Halle in 2018.

Organ concertos, Op. 4 (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Handel’s six organ concertos were published in 1738 by John Walsh as the composer’s Opus 4. The four concertos HWV 290–293 had been written to be played in the intervals of performances of his oratorios Esther, Deborah and Athalia in March and April 1735 in the newly opened theatre of John Rich in Covent Garden; the other two concertos HWV 289 and 294 served the same purpose in February and March of the following year for performances at the same venue of Alexander’s Feast HWV 75, Handel’s setting of John Dryden’s ode. The performances of Esther and Deborah were revivals, while Athalia was a reworking for its first London performance of a work first heard in Oxford in the summer of 1733. The violinist Festing and the composer Arne reported to the musicologist Charles Burney that Handel had included organ solos in the Oxford performances: he had “opened the organ in such a manner as astonished every hearer” and “neither themselves, nor any one of their acquaintance, had ever before heard such extempore, or such premeditated playing, on that or any other instrument.” Handel’s prowess as an organist had already been demonstrated in Rome in 1707 in a contest with the composer Domenico Scarlatti, when his playing on the organ was rated higher than Scarlatti’s playing on the harpsichord; his reputation as a great organist had already been established during his one-year position as cathedral organist in Halle in 1702. Handel’s organ concertos thus have a special place in his oeuvre. They paved the way for Mozart and Beethoven, who like Handel achieved fame in their lifetimes as composers and performers of their own concertos. In the sinfonias of some of his cantatas, Johann Sebastian Bach had already introduced concerto movements for organ and orchestra. However, Bach’s organs in both Weimar and Leipzig were large organs with double keyboards and pedals, unlike the chamber organs used mostly in a continuo role. Bach’s organ writing in the sinfonias lacks the complexity of his writing for solo organ; it is in two parts, with the bass line doubling the continuo. The small English chamber organs at Handel’s disposal, with a single keyboard and no pedals, was situated directly within the orchestra, making possible a unique form of concerto close to chamber music. The precise reasons why Handel introduced this new musical form, the concerto for chamber organ and orchestra, have been discussed in detail by . He concludes that Handel, faced by financial difficulties in mounting Italian opera, exacerbated by a newly established opera company in fierce competition for an audience, decided to showcase himself as a virtuoso composer-performer, thus providing a rival attraction to the celebrated castrato Farinelli, the glittering star of his competitors.

Organ concertos, Op. 7 (Handel)

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Borrowings#

HWV 306 – Originally composed material. The first movement contains a quotation from the Passacaglia in the Suite in G minor for harpsichord, HWV 432. The less played fuga is borrowed from the second movement of Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 11.
HWV 307 – The last movement is based on La Coquette from Suite No.6 of Componimenti musicali by Gottlieb Muffat.
HWV 308 – The second minuet is by an unidentified composer.
HWV 309 – The second movement is borrowed from Georg Philipp Telemann’s Tafelmusik (1733) and the last from his own Concerto, Op. 3, No. 6.
HWV 310 – The first movement contains themes derived from the Trio sonatas, Op. 2, No. 1 and No. 8. The second movement uses Pachelbel’s Canon in D, chord progression; this, however, does not necessarily constitute a borrowing. The closing Gavotte is a more elaborate reworking of a movement from the organ concerto, Op. 4, No. 3. The final gavotte is also thematically related to the aria from Agrippina (HWV 6), “Non ho cor che per amarti…”.
HWV 311 – Originally composed material.

Organo ad libitum#

Although a complete version of the first set of organ concertos, Op. 4 appeared in Handel’s lifetime in 1738, many of the concertos of the posthumous Op. 7 set have missing movements and sections, where Handel would have either used an existing movement solo keyboard from one of his other works or improvised directly. In the case of Op. 7, No.1, HWV 306, Handel actually indicates that parts of the Passacaglia from the Suite in G minor HWV 432 for harpsichord are to be played; the score already contains quotations for this work. It is also reported by contemporaries that Handel would often play a slow and quiet voluntary for organ solo as a prelude to his concertos. After Handel’s death, his amanuensis and personal assistant John Christopher Smith collaborated with the mechanical organ maker John Langshaw (1725–1798) in transcribing a selection of Handel’s works for chamber barrel organ. Two mechanical “organ machines”, operated by a hand crank, were constructed for John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute: the first had 58 barrels, 32 of which were devoted to works by Handel, and was built by the organ-builder John Snetzler and clockmaker Christopher Pinchbeck in 1763, a year after Stuart became Prime Minister; a second had 6 extra barrels and was built by the Bond Street watchmaker Alexander Cumming, who left a detailed inventory for each barrel, including timings in seconds for each movement. One barrel contained the concertos Op. 4, No. 5 and Op. 7, No.3 and another the concerto Op. 7, No.4 with the ad libitum slow movement provided by the sarabande and variations on La Folia from Handel’s Suite in D minor for harpsichord HWV 437. Cumming’s inventory is all that survives of these organs, one having been destroyed in a fire in 1843. There is an existing set of barrels, however, for the chamber barrel organ made by Henry Holland around 1790, formerly in the Colt Clavier Collection and now at Hammerwood Park in Sussex. These contain two concertos HWV 290 and 294 from Op. 4 with elaborate ornamentation supplied by Smith and have been recorded by Erato. Two modern performing editions of the concertos by the organists and musicologists Peter Williams and Ton Koopman provide missing movements and give suggestions for the ad libitum passages, possibly too earthbound according to some commentators. The recordings of the organists George Malcolm (1976) and Richard Egarr (2009) give further possibilities, which have so far not appeared in printed editions.

Orlando (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera was first given at the King’s Theatre in London on 27 January 1733. There were 10 further performances and it was not revived. Like other Baroque opera seria, Orlando went unperformed for many years. The first production since Handel’s lifetime was given at Halle, Handel’s birthplace, in 1922. The HSNY had made the first recording of the opera in 1970 in Vienna with a mostly different cast for RCA Red Seal Records. Peter Sellars directed the first staged production of the work in the United States at the American Repertory Theater on 19 December 1981. Countertenor Jeffrey Gall sang the title role and Craig Smith conducted. Among other performances, the opera was staged at the Royal Opera House in London in 2003 (Bicket) and 2007 (Mackerras, with Bejun Mehta as Orlando), at Glimmerglass in 2003, Brussels in 2012, Amsterdam (in the Brussels staging) in 2014. and by San Francisco Opera in 2019.

Ottone

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The German-born Handel, after spending some of his early career composing operas and other pieces in Italy, settled in London, where in 1711 he had brought Italian opera for the first time with his opera Rinaldo. A tremendous success, Rinaldo created a craze in London for Italian opera seria, a form focused overwhelmingly on solo arias for the star virtuoso singers. In 1719, Handel was appointed music director of an organisation called the Royal Academy of Music (unconnected with the present day London conservatoire), a company under royal charter to produce Italian operas in London. Handel was not only to compose operas for the company but hire the star singers, supervise the orchestra and musicians, and adapt operas from Italy for London performance. For the fourth season in 1723, for which his first opera was Ottone, Handel assembled a cast of star singers including the internationally famous castrato, Senesino, beginning a long and sometimes stormy association with Handel that included creating seventeen leading roles in his operas for London, at a vast salary. The star soprano Margherita Durastanti, who had sung in many of Handel’s early works in Italy as well as his previous operas in London, joined the cast, as did English soprano Anastasia Robinson, who was unhappy about much of the music Handel had written for her to sing in Ottone, feeling that she could not portray, as he desired, scorn and anger, and appealed in a letter to one of the patrons of the Royal Academy to intervene with Handel to write gentler music for her to suit her abilities. Also in the cast was another internationally renowned castrato, Gaetano Berenstadt, in the first of three roles he created in Handel operas. New to London for Ottone, in addition to Senesino, was celebrated Italian soprano Francesca Cuzzoni. She knew that Handel had written much of the music for the opera before he had hired her, and at the first rehearsal with the composer, indicated that she would like him to write a new entrance aria especially for her, to show her unique talents and make a good first impression with the London public. On being asked to replace the aria Falsa imagine with a new one, Handel, according to his first biographer John Mainwaring, flew into a rage: Having one day some words with CUZZONI on her refusing to sing Falsa imagine in OTTONE; Oh! Madame, (said he), je sçais bien que Vous êtes une véritable Diablesse: mais je Vous ferai sçavoir, moi, que je suis Beelzebub le Chéf des Diables (I know that you are a very devil: but I must tell you, I am Beelzebub the Chief of the Devils).; With this he took her up by the waist, and, if she made any more words, swore that he would fling her out of the window. Cuzzoni yielded and sang the aria Handel had written with enormous success, including it throughout her career in recitals and concerts. Handel had seen Antonio Lotti’s opera Teofane, to the same libretto as Ottone, at Opernhaus am Zwinger in Dresden in 1719 with three of the same singers in the same roles. With newly written music by Handel, Giuseppe Maria Boschi and Margherita Durastanti repeated their roles from the Lotti’s Teofane in Handel’s Ottone.

Parnasso in festa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The German-born Handel had been resident in London since 1712 and had there achieved great success as a composer of Italian operas. He had also enjoyed the patronage of monarchs Queen Anne, George I and George II and other members of the royal family and had been commissioned by them to compose numerous pieces of music for worship services in the royal chapels as well as for other royal occasions. Handel enjoyed a particularly warm and close relationship with Anne, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of George II, who supported his opera seasons, was an accomplished musician herself, and to whom Handel even gave private lessons – although he did not enjoy teaching, he made an exception in her case. The evening before the wedding, the princess, the rest of the royal family and all their court attended the first performance of Parnasso in festa, specially composed by Handel for the occasion to an anonymous Italian text, at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket where he was presenting his seasons of Italian operas, and with the same star opera singers who were appearing in his current successful opera “Arianna in Creta”. Re-using music in this way, especially for an audience in a different location than the one where it had been heard first, was a common practice of Handel’s and of other composers of the time. 18th century musicologist Charles Burney observed of Parnasso in festa that the music “was new to the ears of the greatest part of a London audience; and Handel with all the riches of his genius and invention, was very economical, and as frequently turned and patched up his old productions, as if he had laboured under indigence of thought.” However a substantial portion of the music of Parnasso in festa was newly composed for the piece.

Partenope

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The opera, which is in three acts, is composed to an Italian libretto adapted by an unknown hand from a libretto originally written in 1699 by Silvio Stampiglia. Stampiglia’s libretto had received many previous settings, including one by Caldara which Handel may have seen in Venice around 1710. It was Handel’s first comic (or, rather, unserious) opera since the much earlier Agrippina, breaking away from the more traditional opera seria works for which the composer was known in London. He originally proposed the libretto to the opera company the Royal Academy of Music (1719) in 1726. They however rejected the work because of its frivolous nature, its relatively few extended arias and its long passages of recitative. (The latter objections are not particularly true, however. The opera has relatively few ensemble pieces but is replete with gorgeous arias.) The opera manager Owen Swiney opined that the project was uncommercial; in a letter of 1726 he wrote: The libretto is the very worst book (excepting one) that I ever read in my whole life. Signor Stampiglia … endeavours to be both humorous and witty in it: if he succeeded in his attempt on any stage in Italy, ’t was merely from a depravity of taste in the audience; for I am very sure it will be received with contempt in England’ The opera was presented during the 1730 season at the King’s Theatre when Handel was working in partnership with the director John James Heidegger. The score was completed by Handel just two weeks before the premiere.

Poro (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera was first given at the King’s Theatre in London on 2 February 1731 and on 15 further occasions. A run of 16 performances was a mark of success for the time as is the fact that the work was revived on 23 December 1731, and again in a revised form on 8 December 1736. It was also given in Germany in Hamburg and Braunschweig. The first modern performance, also in Braunschweig, was in 1928. The first UK performance since Handel’s time was in 1966 at Abingdon. As with all Baroque opere serie, Poro went unperformed for many years, but with the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s, Poro, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. Among other performances, Poro was staged at the Göttingen International Handel Festival in 2006, by the London Handel Festival in 2007 and in a German-language production directed by Harry Kupfer and conducted by Jörg Halubek at the Komische Oper Berlin in 2019.

Queen Caroline Te Deum

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

When Queen Anne died in 1714, her second cousin the Elector of Hanover became King of Great Britain as George I. His daughter-in-law Caroline of Ansbach thus became Princess of Wales. Caroline left Hanover and traveled to Britain, making the only sea voyage she ever took in her life, and arrived at Margate in September 1714. Her safe arrival was celebrated by the composition of this Te Deum by Handel, who had been resident in London since 1712 and had composed a number of pieces for royal occasions. The Te Deum was performed in the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace in that same month, on the 26th, and again on 17 October. Since Caroline later became Queen as consort of George II, the Te Deum composed to give thanks for her safe arrival in Britain became known as the “Queen Caroline” Te Deum. George I attended the performance of the Te Deum and subsequently doubled Handel’s “pension”, or salary, he had been granted by Queen Anne of two hundred pounds a year for life to four hundred.

Radamisto (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

It was first performed at the King’s Theatre, London on 27 April 1720, a performance attended by King George I and his son, the Prince of Wales, and was judged to be a success, resulting in 10 further performances. A revised version with different singers including the internationally renowned castrato Senesino in the first of many roles he performed in Handel’s works was written for a revival on 28 December 1720. More revisions followed for yet another version presented in 1721. In 1728 Radamisto was again revised for another revival featuring the two famous prima donnas Cuzzoni and Faustina as well as Senesino. The first modern performance was in Göttingen on 27 June 1927. As with most opere serie, Radamisto went unperformed for many years, but with the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s, Radamisto, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. The first production in the US, in a semi-staged version, took place on 16 February 1980 in Washington, DC and the first fully staged presentation was given by Opera/Chicago in 1984. Among other productions, Radamisto was staged by Santa Fe Opera in 2008, by English National Opera in 2010 and by Theater an der Wien in 2013. An acclaimed production of Radamisto (first version) was directed by Sigrid T’Hooft at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, in 2009. Fully conceived in period style (it took its cue from an original prompt book), T’Hooft’s staging was revived and now ranks among the most significant examples of historically informed performance in opera.

Recorder sonata in A minor (HWV 362)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

Recorder sonata in C major (HWV 365)

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Movements#

The work consists of five movements: (Movements do not contain repeat markings unless indicated. The number of bars is taken from the Chrysander edition, and is the raw number in the manuscript —not including repeat markings.) Three of these movements are related to other works by Handel: *Handel also used the second movement in the overture to the opera Scipione (1726) *The third movement is a revised version of the third movement of the Oboe Sonata in F Major (1711–16) *The fifth movement is related to the duet “Placa l’alma”, from act 1, scene 4 of the opera Alessandro, (1725–26)

Recorder sonata in D minor (HWV 367a)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

The work consists of seven movements: (Movements do not contain repeat markings unless indicated. The number of bars is taken from the Chrysander edition, and is the raw number in the manuscript—not including repeat markings.)

Recorder sonata in F major (HWV 369)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

Recorder sonata in G minor (HWV 360)

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Movements#

Riccardo Primo

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Performance history#

The opera received its premiere at the King’s Theatre in London on 11 November 1727, and eleven subsequent performances. It was also performed in Hamburg and Braunschweig in February 1729. The Hamburg performance, led by none other than Georg Philipp Telemann, included two new comic characters, Murmilla and Gelasius; recitatives and the added arias for the new characters were translated into German although the original arias remained in Italian. Handel subsequently re-used music from the opera in Scipione and Tolomeo. The opera fell into neglect after the 1728 closing of the Royal Academy. Later performances were given at Kourion Amphitheater in Cyprus at 1991, in order to mark the 800th anniversary of the historical events on which the opera is based, at the 1996 Göttingen Festival and at the Händelfestspiele at the Badisches Staatstheater in 2014 and 2015. The work was given its United States premiere, presented as Richard the Lionheart, by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis during the summer 2015 season.

Rinaldo (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Handel began to compose operas at the Oper am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg, where he spent the years 1703 to 1706; his principal influences were Johann Mattheson and Reinhard Keiser. At that time, German opera as a genre was still not clearly defined; in Hamburg the term Singspiel (“song-play”) rather than opera described music dramas that combined elements of French and Italian opera, often with passages of spoken German dialogue. The music was, in the words of historian Donald Jay Grout, “tinged with the serious, heavy formality of Lutheran Germany”. The first of Handel’s early works in the German style was Almira, a considerable success when it was premiered on 8 January 1705. Over the next three years Handel composed three more operas in the German style, but all of these are now lost. However, fragments of the music from these works have been identified in later operas. In autumn 1706 Handel went to Italy. He stayed for long periods in Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice, making frequent visits to the opera houses and concert halls. He obtained introductions to leading musicians, among them Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti, and Agostino Steffani, and met numerous singers and performers. From these acquaintances Handel learned the essential characteristics of Italian music, in particular (according to Dean and Knapp) “fluency in the treatment of Italian verse, accurate declamation and flexible harmonic rhythm in recitative, … drawing the necessary distinction between vocal and instrumental material and, above all, the release of his wonderful melodic gift”. Handel’s first Italian opera, Rodrigo, showed an incomplete grasp of Italian style, with much of Keiser’s Hamburg influence still evident; it was not a success when premiered in Florence, in late November or early December 1707. and honed his skills through the composition of cantatas and oratorios. In Rome, Handel met Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani, a diplomat and spare-time librettist; the result of this meeting was a collaboration which produced Handel’s second Italian opera, Agrippina. After this work’s triumphant premiere at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice, on 26 December 1709, Handel became, says biographer P. H. Lang, “world famous and the idol of a spoiled and knowledgeable audience”. This sudden recognition led to eager competition for Handel’s services. By 1711, informed London audiences had become familiar with the nature of Italian opera through the numerous pastiches and adaptations that had been staged. The former Royal Academy of Music Principal, Curtis Price, writes that the popularity of these pieces was the result of a deliberate strategy aimed at the suppression of English opera. Handel’s music was relatively unknown in England, though his reputation from Agrippina was considerable elsewhere. A short “Italian Dialogue” he had written in honour of Queen Anne’s birthday was well received when performed at St James’s Palace on 6 February 1711. This theatre, designed and built by Sir John Vanbrugh, had become London’s main opera house; its manager, Aaron Hill, intended to mount the first Italian opera written specifically for London and had engaged an all-Italian company for the 1710–11 opera season. Hill employed an Italian poet and language teacher, Giacomo Rossi, to write a libretto based on a scenario that Hill prepared himself. As his subject Hill chose Gerusalemme liberata, an epic of the First Crusade by the 16th-century Italian poet Torquato Tasso; the opera was called Rinaldo, after its main protagonist. Hill was determined to exploit to the full the opportunities for lavish spectacle afforded by the theatre’s machinery; his aim, according to Dean and Knapp, was “to combine the virtuosity of Italian singing with the extravagance of the 17th century masque”.

Rock Messiah

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Track listing#

All tracks composed and arranged by David Axelrod #“Overture” #“Comfort Ye My People…Recitative” #“And The Glory Of The Lord…Chorus” #“Behold…Recitative” #“Pastoral Symphony” #“And The Angel Said unto Them…Recitative” #“Glory To God…Chorus” #“Hallelujah…Chorus” #“Worthy Is The Lamb…Chorus”

Rodelinda (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Rodelinda was first performed at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket, London, on 13 February 1725. It was produced with the same singers as Tamerlano. There were 14 performances; it was repeated on 18 December 1725, and again on 4 May 1731, a further 16 performances in all, each revival including changes and fresh material. There was a further London performance in June 1959 by the Handel Opera Society, conducted by Charles Farncombe, with Joan Sutherland and Janet Baker singing a cut text in English. Among other performances, Rodelinda was staged at the Glyndebourne Festival in the UK in 1998, by the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2004 and by English National Opera in 2014. The ENO production was revived at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2015. The Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, performed the opera in March 2019, with Lisette Oropesa and Bejun Mehta in the leading roles. The Dutch National Opera staged Rodelinda in January 2020, with Lucy Crowe and Bejun Mehta in the leading roles.

Rodrigo (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Prologue#

Prior to the start of the opera, Rodrigo had deposed the previous king, Vitizza, who was corrupt, but then Rodrigo indulged in the same vices after he had become king. One example was his seduction of Florinda, who bore his son as a result. Rodrigo had intended to leave his wife Esilena, who was reportedly infertile, and marry Florinda. However, Rodrigo has not kept this promise.

Act 1#

The start of the opera brings news that Giuliano has defeated the sons of Vitizza in battle. In spite of her husband’s betrayal, Esilena stays loyal to Rodrigo. Rodrigo demands that Evanco, the last surviving son of Vitizza, be executed. However, Esilena asks that Evanco be spared, and he is turned over to the custody of Giuliano. Giuliano learns of Rodrigo’s broken promise to Florinda, and abandons his former support of Rodrigo to make an alliance with Evanco. Evanco is himself in love with Florinda. Rodrigo tells Esilena of his infidelity with Florinda. Esilena is prepared to renounce the throne to Florinda if it will bring peace.

Salve Regina (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

The opening and closing movements are slow and reflective and frame a vigorous allegro movement. The work has the following three movements:

External links#

(HWV 241 starts on page 136)

Samson (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

Handel began the composition of Samson immediately after completing Messiah on 14 September 1741. It used a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton, based on Milton’s Samson Agonistes, which in turn was based on the figure Samson in Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges. Handel completed the first act on 20 September 1741, the second act on 11 October that year, and the whole work on 29 October. Shortly after that he travelled to Dublin to premiere Messiah, returning to London at the end of August 1742 and thoroughly revising Samson. The premiere was given at Covent Garden in London on 18 February 1743. The incidental organ music probably came from his recently completed concerto in A major (HWV 307). The oratorio was a great success, leading to a total of seven performances in its first season, the most in a single season of any of his oratorios. Samson retained its popularity throughout Handel’s lifetime and has never fallen entirely out of favor.

Sarabande and Chaconne from Handel's Almira (Liszt)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

References#

Baker, James M., ed. Kenneth Hamilton, “A survey of the late piano works”, The Cambridge Companion to Liszt (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005). (paperback).
Hinson, Maurice, The Pianist’s Guide to Transcriptions, Arrangements, and Paraphrases (Indiana University Press). https://books.google.com/books?id=xsWjvwM_FWIC&dq=Liszt+Sarabande+Chaconne+Handel+Almira&pg=PA66
Howard, Leslie, Notes for Hyperion CDA66371/2, Liszt at the Opera I, Leslie Howard, piano.

Saul (Handel)

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Background#

Scheissmessiah!

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Track listing#

“Lust” – 2:12 # “Fikk dich mit Fire” – 3:23 # “Kaiser von Shizer” – 3:13 # “Disko Fire Scheiss Messiah” – 4:19 # “Blut! Sex! Fire!” – 3:22 # “Burning Bush” – 2:54 # “Scheissway to Hell” – 4:00 # “And We Shall Purify” – 3:38 # “10th Circle” – 4:06 # “Hellalujah” – 3:00 # “Purity” – 5:47#

Credits#

Kaizer von Loopy: lead guitar, lead vocals on tracks 3 and 6, programming
Vas Kallas: lead vocals, guitar, additional programming
Anna K: Bass
Mixed by Arun Venkatesh, at Big Blue Meenie, Jersey City, New Jersey
Mastered by Tom Hutten at Bionic Mastering, in Soho, New York

Reception#

The album received some positive reception for its heavier metal sound than the previous album, Über Alles, with Metal.de noting that " it is blessed with an appropriately eardrum-massaging production." There was also negative reception, with some critics dismissing the album and band as a novelty act.

Scipione

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Scipione had its premiere on 12 March 1726 at The King’s Theatre, Haymarket. Handel revived the opera in 1730, but it did not receive another UK production until October 1967, by the Handel Opera Society. In Germany, Scipione was revived at the Göttingen International Handel Festival in 1937 and at the annual Handel Festival in Halle in 1965. With the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s, Scipione, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today.

Scratch Messiah

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Scratch Messiah performances have their origins in the British tradition of choral societies, when large choruses of untrained amateur singers could participate in performances of large-scale concert works. Handel’s Messiah was originally composed with charitable purposes in mind, having grown out of the 1749 performance of the Foundling Hospital Anthem and Handel’s annual Easter performance of Messiah in the chapel of the Foundling Hospital in London. Messiah was composed so that it could be performed after a limited number of rehearsals, and thus lent itself well to the large Handel Festivals held from the 1820s onwards in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and London. At these gatherings, large, amateur “scratch” choirs were formed from members of the public who travelled to the cities from all over Britain.

Semele (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Handel’s last Italian opera, Deidamia, was performed in 1741. After this time, he concentrated on oratorios and musical dramas with English texts. Many of these, including Semele, were premiered at the Covent Garden Theatre, beginning with Alexander’s Feast in 1736 and finishing with The Triumph of Time and Truth in 1757. As a result, in the early 1740s, oratorios at the Covent Garden Theatre were Handel’s chief activity. While most of these works had sacred or religious texts, two stand out for being secular: Hercules and Semele. The libretto was written by William Congreve around 1705–6 and originally set to music in John Eccles’s opera Semele. The text was adapted for Handel by an unknown collaborator, and he wrote the music in just over a month, from 3 June to 4 July 1743. Semele contains self-borrowings from Giulio Cesare and Fra pensieri qual pensiero (HWV 115), as well as borrowings from Alessandro Scarlatti (notably Il Pompeo), Porta, Reinhard Keiser, and Telemann. Noteworthy in the score are the number and quality of accompanied recitatives (a characteristic it shares with Il Pompeo), and the sheer variety of style and tempo markings (23, with nine unique in English works). The musical drama takes a similar shape to an opera, but Handel eyed a place for it on the Covent Garden Theatre’s oratorio-centred Lenten season of public concerts the following February (1744). So he fashioned Semele for presentation in the manner of an oratorio – a wolf in sheep’s clothing to those not already enlightened to Ovid’s Metamorphoses. His ploy to bring a powerful story to the theatre met, perhaps predictably, with mixed reactions. Mary Delany called it a “delightful piece of music”, but commented, “Semele has a strong party against it, viz. the fine ladies, petit maitres, and ignoramuses. All the opera people are enraged at Handel.” This probably related to the supporters of the rival Middlesex Opera Company, for which Handel would not write. Harsh criticism is also known from Messiah librettist Charles Jennens, who stated that it was “a baudy Opera”. The suggestion Semele was “profane” and so perhaps not suitable for respectable audiences caused the work to fall from the repertoire; it was revived only once by Handel. However, Semele is still regarded as a work of high quality. As Lord Harewood put it: the music of Semele is so full of variety, the recitative so expressive, the orchestration so inventive, the characterization so apt, the general level of invention so high, the action so full of credible situation and incident – in a word, the piece as a whole is so suited to the operatic stage – that one can only suppose its neglect to have been due to an act of abnegation on the part of opera companies, unless of course it is caused by sheer ignorance.

Serse

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

In late 1737 the King’s Theatre, London, commissioned Handel to write two new operas. The first, Faramondo, was premiered on 3 January 1738. By this time, Handel had already begun work on Serse. The first act was composed between 26 December 1737 and 9 January 1738, the second was ready by 25 January, the third by 6 February, and Handel put the finishing touches to the score on 14 February. Serse was first performed at the King’s Theatre, Haymarket on 15 April 1738. The first production was a complete failure. The audience may have been confused by the innovative nature of the work. Unlike his other operas for London, Handel included comic (buffo) elements in Serse. Although this had been typical for 17th-century Venetian works such as Cavalli’s original setting of the libretto, by the 1730s an opera seria was expected to be wholly serious, with no mixing of the genres of tragedy and comedy or high and low class characters. The musicologist Charles Burney later took Serse to task for violating decorum in this way, writing: “I have not been able to discover the author of the words of this drama: but it is one of the worst Handel ever set to Music: for besides feeble writing, there is a mixture of tragic-comedy and buffoonery in it, which Apostolo Zeno and Metastasio had banished from serious opera.” Another unusual aspect of Serse is the number of short, one-part arias, when a typical opera seria of Handel’s time was almost wholly made up of long, three-part da capo arias. This feature particularly struck the Earl of Shaftesbury, who attended the premiere and admired the opera. He noted “the airs too, for brevity’s sake, as the opera would otherwise be too long , fall without any recitativ’ intervening from one into another , that tis difficult to understand till it comes by frequent hearing to be well known. My own judgment is that it is a capital opera notwithstanding tis called a ballad one.” It is likely that Handel had been influenced, both as regards the comedy and the absence of da capo arias, by the success in London of ballad operas such as The Beggar’s Opera and John Frederick Lampe’s The Dragon of Wantley, the latter of which was visited by Handel.

Silent Worship

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Handel / Somervell comparison#

Musically Arthur Somervell’s song is a simple arrangement of the original Handel aria – with the orchestral parts reduced for piano, one or two slight changes in harmony, and the instrumental ending (postlude) omitted. The text is treated quite differently in the two versions: * In the original Italian baroque aria as set by Handel, the first part of the aria uses a single couplet to express a single two-fold thought: “I will not say it with my lips, they do not have the courage”. The words are repeated several times, to emphasize the lack of courage. The second part of the aria expresses a complement to the first, its antithesis – twice as many words for half as much music – and therefore not repeated: “Perhaps, with sparks from yearning eyes, my gaze will speak to reveal how I am consumed by flames”. The first part of the aria is then repeated, in A–B–A da capo aria form. * Somervell’s unrelated English text consists of a 16-line narrative, in which only a single line is repeated. Even the da capo – the reprise of the first part at the end – has a new paraphrase of the first text rather than the simple verbatim repetition which the baroque aria uses.

Silla (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The first performance might have been on 2 June 1713. A dedication from the librettist, Rossi, to the French ambassador, the Duc d’Aumont, appears with that date in a printed copy of the libretto. There may have been a private performance at the Queen’s Theatre, London. The opera has been performed in modern times, for instance at the London Handel Festival in 2000, at the Handel Festival, Halle in 2015, and at the Leeds Opera Festival in 2022.

Sing Unto God (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The wedding of the twenty-nine-year-old heir to the throne, Frederick, Prince of Wales to the seventeen-year-old Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, who had arrived in England only two days earlier, was celebrated with great pomp. The press reported on the rehearsal of Handel’s anthem: Yesterday there was a Practice of a fine Anthem compos’d by Mr. Handel, to be performed at the Nuptials of the Prince of Wales, at Mr Gates’s, Master of the Boys belonging to the Chapel Royal, St. James’s; the Vocal Parts were perform’d by Mess. Row, Gates, Lee, Abbot, Beard, the Gentlemen of the Chapel, and the Boys. The Instrumental Parts by twenty of His Majesty’s Band of Musick, and the same number of performers from Mr. Handel’s opera. The words of the anthem were published in the newspapers. The only comment on the music from someone who was present at the wedding that is known is from the diary of the Earl of Egmont: “Over the altar was placed the organ, and a gallery made for the musicians. An anthem composed for the occasion by Mr. Hendel was wretchedly sung…”

Siroe

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera was first given under the direction of the composer at the King’s Theatre in London on 17 February 1728 and it was also seen in Braunschweig, Germany. Among other performances, Siroe received staged productions at the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice in association with La Fenice opera house in 2001 and at the Göttingen International Handel Festival in 2013.

Synopsis#

*Scene: Persia, about 628 AD. Before the action begins, King Cosroe has had Asbite, father of Emira, assassinated. Emira has disguised herself as a man, “Idaspe”, and has come to King Cosroe’s court, thirsting for revenge for her father’s death. There she has fallen in love with the heir to the throne, Siroe, and he, aware of her true identity, with her also. Cosroe’s younger son Prince Medarse wants to get rid of both his father and his older brother so that he can have the throne himself. Laodice, the king’s mistress, has also fallen in love with crown prince Siroe.

Solomon (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The German-born Handel had been resident in London since 1712 and had there enjoyed great success as a composer of Italian operas. His opportunities to set English texts to music had at first been more limited; he had spent the years 1717 to 1719 as composer in residence to the wealthy Duke of Chandos where he had written church anthems and two stage works, Acis and Galatea and Esther; and had composed vocal music to English words for various royal occasions, including a set of Coronation anthems for King George II in 1727, which had made a huge impact. In 1731, a performance of the 1718 version of Esther, a work in English based on a Biblical drama by Jean Racine, was staged in London without Handel’s participation and had proved popular, so Handel revised the work and planned to have it performed at the theatre where his Italian operas were being presented. However the Bishop of London would not permit a drama based on a Biblical story to be acted out on the stage, and therefore Handel presented Esther in concert form, thus giving birth to the English oratorio. Such was the success of his oratorios in English that eventually Handel abandoned Italian opera, his last being Deidamia in 1741, and produced a string of masterpieces of oratorio in English. Opera seria, the form of Italian opera that Handel composed for London, focused overwhelmingly on solo arias and recitatives for the star singers and contained very little else; they did not feature separate choruses. With the English oratorios Handel had the opportunity to mix operatic arias in English for the soloists with large choruses of the type that he used in the Coronation anthems. The oratorios found a wider audience among more social classes than the aristocratic audience who had sponsored and enjoyed Handel’s Italian operas. Solomon was widely recognised by commentators of the day as a eulogy for Georgian England, with the just and wise King Solomon representing King George II, and the mighty, prosperous kingdom of Israel reflecting the similarly happy state of England at the time of the work’s premiere, in the view of its creators. However, a 21st-century commentator has noted that Solomon was not a great commercial success with London audiences of the time, possibly because of complexities and ambiguities in its portrayal of the central character King Solomon.

Sosarme

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Sosarme had its premiere on 15 February 1732 and was a great success, as noted by the diary known as “Colman’s Opera Register”: “In Febry Sosarmes - a New Opera - took much by Hendell - & was for many Nights much crowded to some peoples admiration.” It was revived for 3 performances in 1734 with arias from Riccardo Primo. The first revival since 1734 was in 1970 at Abingdon, UK, though the work had been broadcast in full by the BBC in 1955, a performance on which the slightly abridged recording of the same year, under Anthony Lewis (listed below) was based. As with all Baroque opera seria, Sosarme went unperformed for many years, but with the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s, Sosarme, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. Among other performances, the opera was staged by the Barber Institute of the University of Birmingham in 1979, by the London Handel Festival in 2004, and at Oper Halle in 2016.

Structure of Handel's Messiah

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Oratorio#

The libretto by Charles Jennens is drawn from the Bible: mostly from the Old Testament of the King James Bible, but with several psalms taken from the Book of Common Prayer. Regarding the text, Jennens commented: “…the Subject excells every other Subject. The Subject is Messiah …”. Messiah differs from Handel’s other oratorios in that it does not contain an encompassing narrative, instead offering contemplation on different aspects of the Christian Messiah:

Susanna (Handel)

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Act 1#

The Israelites, in chorus, lament their captivity. Susanna and her husband Joacim sing of their happiness in marriage and Susanna’s father of his pride in having such a model wife as his daughter. Joacim must leave town for some days and husband and wife bid farewell. Two elders of the community, both filled with lust for the beautiful Susanna, plan to force themselves upon her during her husband’s absence. The chorus comments that such wickedness will call down heaven’s anger.

Tamerlano

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History and context#

Terpsicore

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Performance history#

Il pastor fido, a pastoral opera first performed in 1712, had not been a success with audiences. This was probably due to the fact that it was lacking in the sort of spectacular scenic effects and larger than life emotions of Handel’s then sensational previous opera Rinaldo . Among other performances, Terpsicore was seen in a choreographed staging at the Manoel Theatre, Malta, and the Château de Versailles Spectacles, France, in 2013.

Teseo

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Performance history#

The opera was premiered at the Queen’s Theatre in the Haymarket on 10 January 1713. It received an additional 12 performances through 16 May 1713, a mark of success at those times. The singers included the castratos Valeriano Pellegrini and Valentino Urbani. Between 1713 and 1984, there were only two revivals, the first being the revival under Fritz Lehmann in Göttingen on 29 June 1947. As with all Baroque opera seria, Teseo went unperformed for many years, but with the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s,Teseo, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. Among other productions, the Handel Festival, Halle performed the work in 2003, the Frankfurt Opera mounted a production in 2013, and the work received a staging at the Theater an der Wien in 2018.

The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba

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Description#

“The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” is one of two instrumental movements in Solomon, an oratorio by George Frideric Handel written in May and June 1748 and premiered on 17 March 1749. Scored for two oboes, strings and continuo, it is the sinfonia which opens Act III, the only act in which Sheba appears, and it depicts the bustling preparations for her arrival rather than that entry itself. It is marked allegro, and features lively violin passages and contrasting solos from the two oboes. Its modern title was apparently bestowed on it by Sir Thomas Beecham; certainly, Handel did not use that title, the surviving wordbook simply calling it “Sinfony”.

The Choice of Hercules (Handel)

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Dramatis personae#

Hercules (alto)
Pleasure (soprano)
Virtue (alto)
An Attendant on Pleasure (tenor)
Chorus

Movements#

The work has the following movements:

Recordings#

Hyperion Records label received the 2003 International Handel Recording Prize for their recording of The Choice of Hercules. * Conductor: Robert King * Pleasure: Susan Gritton * Virtue: Alice Coote * Hercules: Robin Blaze * An Attendant on Pleasure: Charles Daniels * The Choir of The King’s Consort * The King’s Consort

The Cuckoo and the Nightingale (concerto)

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Scoring#

Handel wrote for a chamber organ without pedals and a small Baroque orchestra. As well as strings, the orchestra has oboes and a continuo section.

Solo part#

Handel was a gifted organist, and his organ concertos were a “draw” to his oratorios. Handel’s organ playing supplied an element of virtuosity which was probably missing from the singing because his oratorios were written for less highly trained singers than the operas. We know that he would have improvised at the organ to some extent. As he got older and his eyesight deteriorated, he was less motivated to write the organ part in full. The scores of his organ concertos therefore came to contain more “ad libitum” bars for the soloist to improvise. In the case of the Cuckoo and the Nightingale the third movement is “organo ad libitum”. Organists differ in their approach to this movement with George Malcolm’s recording taking about a minute and Richard Egarr about three.

The Enchanted Island (2011 opera)

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Musical numbers#

The music was drawn from the following sources:

External links#

Metropolitan Opera
The Enchanted Island
The music of The Enchanted Island
The libretto of The Enchanted Island

The Harmonious Blacksmith

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Handel’s life#

Around the time of 1720, G. F. Handel had just left his native land of Germany to London, accepting his new position at the Royal Academy of Music. Before that, Handel had already moved to England in 1712, spending his time based at the Burlington House before becoming house composer at Cannons in Middlesex. It has been suggested that the move to Cannons was related to the fact that in 1717 there was reduced demand for his services in central London because operatic productions were experiencing a temporary downturn. At the end of Handel’s stay at Cannons, the Duke and his friends helped him establish a new opera company in London, the so-called Royal Academy of Music.

The Young Messiah (musical)

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Background for the later version#

On October 5, 1999, the National Millennium Committee in Ireland committed the sum of IR£700,000 to fund the production of Messiah XXI For a New Millennium to be broadcast by the RTÉ as one of its flagship programs for the Millennium TV schedule. Séamus Brennan, T.D., chairman of the National Millennium Committee, felt that this production would have national significance and would appeal to all ages. He said: “There are many reasons why the Millennium Committee felt this was a musical event worthy of substantial support. It felt Messiah XXI will capture much of the excitement and anticipation the Millennium is generating while at the same time being an entirely appropriate modern day celebration of the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ. The fact it will be screened by RTÉ means virtually the entire population will have an opportunity to see it. It comes at a time when Irish music is flourishing and I am confident it will also receive considerable international attention. Another landmark aspect is that it is being performed for the first time in Dublin which obviously has direct historical links with Handel’s original Messiah, also first performed in the city, 257 years ago.” The event was organized by Messiah XXI Productions, which included directors John Kearns and Bernard Bennett, who produced Faith of Our Fathers and Frank McNamara, an arranger and producer best known at that time for his work as the music director of RTE’s The Late Late Show and The Irish Tenors. Leading international TV director, Bill Cosel, was hired to direct the TV coverage. RTÉ hired Paula Farrell, the Eurovision set designer, to design the set. Joe Canavan was hired as lighting designer. The Executive Producer for RTÉ was Peter Feeney. The RTÉ used its largest outside broadcast unit in filming this event. The event cost IR£1.4 million (or about US$2 million) to stage and also featured a spectacular light and sound extravaganza. The production was a labor of love for the three producers, McNamara, Kearns and Bennett, who between them personally contributed a substantial portion of the budget. John Kearns, a director of Messiah XXI Productions, said: “Our inspiration for Messiah XXI obviously came from Handel’s original masterpiece and its appropriate links with the millennium and the celebration of 2,000 years of Christianity. By re-interpreting the music in a modern idiom, with popular artists, this new version will, in our view, be immediately accessible to a much wider audience. It will allow the nation at large to discover and enjoy an important part of our musical heritage, which will stand forever on audio and visual media as a reminder of our marking of the Millennium in Ireland. “Messiah XXI will also achieve international attention and recognition as the Irish nation’s contribution to the world-wide celebrations by means of international TV coverage which has been facilitated by RTE. We are indebted to RTE for their considerable support. We are delighted too with the encouragement we have received from all the churches as this will be an ecumenical and cross-border event, with a huge choir being drawn from both territories on the island.” Two gala performances took place in Dublin, Ireland on December 4, 1999, and December 5, 1999. In addition to being broadcast during Ireland’s Millennium TV schedule, the show has been shown on PBS stations throughout the United States. On October 18, 2002, Frank McNamara staged and produced a performance of Messiah XXI in Warsaw, Poland as part of a Gala Event for the President of Poland and dignitaries.

Theodora (Handel)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Context, analysis, and performance history#

Handel wrote Theodora during his last period of composition. He was sixty-four years old when he began working on it in June 1749. He had written the oratorios Solomon and Susanna the previous year. Theodora would be his penultimate oratorio. Theodora differs from the former two oratorios because it is a tragedy, ending in the death of the heroine and her converted companion. It is also Handel’s only dramatic oratorio in English on a Christian subject. Thomas Morell (1703–1784) had worked with Handel before on several oratorios. He and Handel were good friends; the composer left the librettist 200 pounds in his will. Morell’s source for the libretto was The Martyrdom of Theodora and of Didymus (1687) by Robert Boyle, a prominent scientist and theologian. He also borrowed from Corneille’s Théodore, Vierge et Martyre. Theodora was actually Handel’s favorite of his oratorios. The composer himself ranked the final chorus of act 2, “He saw the lovely youth”, far beyond" “Hallelujah” in Messiah. It has sometimes been staged as an opera, as in 1996 Glyndebourne and 2009 Salzburg Festival productions. Both of them were recorded and released as DVDs. The original libretto included an extra scene in which Septimius himself converts to Christianity, but it was never set by Handel, though it was printed. The second scene in act 2 was also subject to several revisions by Handel.

Tolomeo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Tolomeo was first performed at the King’s Theatre, London on 30 April 1728 and received seven performances. It was revived with revisions on 19 May 1730 and 2 January 1733, Among other productions, Tolomeo was performed at the Handel Festival in Halle in 1996, by English Touring Opera in 2006, and by Glimmerglass Opera in 2010.

Synopsis#

:Place: Cyprus :Time: around 108 BC The action takes place at the time of Ptolemy IX (Tolomeo), who was deposed by his mother and joint ruler of Egypt Cleopatra III in favour of his younger brother Ptolemy X (Alessandro). Its themes include revenge, lust, lost love, devotion, and eventually, reconciliation.

Tra le fiamme (Il consiglio)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The text for the work was written by Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili. The payment on 6 July 1707 (recorded in Pamphili’s account books) for the copying of a large cantata probably refers to Tra le fiamme.

Synopsis#

Using the analogy of butterflies attracted to a flame, and the story of Daedalus (who constructed wings made from wax and feathers for himself and his son Icarus), Pamphili uses the cantata to issue a warning to his audience: that the phoenix can rise from the flames, however the butterflies will be killed. It is possible that the cardinal was also directing the warning specifically to Handel, as there was a rumour at the time about a relationship between Handel (then twenty-two) and the singer Vittoria Tarquini (who was the mistress of Prince Ferdinand de’ Medici of Florence).

UEFA Champions League Anthem

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

In 1991, UEFA instructed its commercial partner Television Event and Media Marketing (TEAM) to develop new ways of branding the European Cup (which would be renamed the UEFA Champions League in 1992). This process resulted in the Champions League’s anthem, as well as its “starball” logo and distinctive house colours. The anthem was written by English composer Tony Britten in 1992, adapted from George Frideric Händel’s anthem Zadok the Priest, which is traditionally performed at the coronation of British monarchs. In a 2013 newspaper interview, Britten stated that “I had a commercials agent and they approached me to write something anthemic and because it was just after The Three Tenors at the World Cup in Italy so classical music was all the rage. Hooliganism was a major, major problem and UEFA wanted to take the game into a completely different area altogether. There’s a rising string phase which I pinched from Handel and then I wrote my own tune. It has a kind of Handelian feel to it but I like to think it’s not a total rip-off.” The composing process took “just a matter of days”. Britten also mentioned that he does not own the rights to the anthem, which are retained by UEFA, but he receives royalties when it is used. For the recording used in television transmissions of UEFA Champions League matches and events, the piece was performed by London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and sung by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chorus. Anthony King writes:

Un'alma innamorata

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The work was written for Ruspoli for performance at his country estate in Vignanello (near Rome). The copyist’s bill is dated 30 June 1707. It is possible that the soprano part was composed for the singer Vittoria Tarquini (with whom Handel is rumoured to have had a relationship), and it is known that Vittoria was among the guests at the estate in Vignanello around the time of composition. Although uncertain, the text of the cantata may have been written by Abbé Francesco Mazziotti (who was the tutor of Ruspoli’s eldest son) .

Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate

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History#

Handel’s composition was written to celebrate the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. It has been described as his first commission from the British royal family, although the Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne appears to be earlier. It was his first major sacred work to English texts. Handel followed the models of Henry Purcell’s 1694 Te Deum and Jubilate with strings and trumpets, which was regularly performed for official functions in St Paul’s even after the composer’s death, and a 1709 setting by William Croft. As in these models, Handel composed a combination of two liturgical texts, the Ambrosian Hymn Te Deum, We praise thee, O God, and a setting of Psalm 100, O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands, which is a regular canticle of the Anglican Morning Prayer. He followed the version of the Book of Common Prayer. Handel’s work was first performed in a public rehearsal on 5 March 1713 in St Paul’s Cathedral. The official premiere took place after the tedious peace negotiations had finished, in a solemn thanksgiving service on 7 July 1713. The Te Deum and Jubilate, along with another composition As Pants the Hart, earned Handel a yearly income from Queen Anne’s Court. Donald Burrows writes in “Handel and the English Chapel Royal” that “his close association with the Court, reinforced by his musical contribution to events that were personal to the royal family, gave him both the benefits and the disadvantages of identification with the Hanoverian establishment.” However, at the time his annual pension was granted it would not have been obvious that he was going to continue to enjoy the favour of the future George I, who was in fact opposed to the Treaty of Utrecht. Handel arranged the Jubilate in about 1717/18 for the Duke of Chandos. Te Deum and Jubilate was performed in St Paul’s for the annual Festival of the Sons of the Clergy, alternating with Purcell’s work, until 1743 when Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum was first performed. Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate was first published in full score during the 1730s. It was published by the Deutsche Händelgesellschaft in 1870 in Leipzig as HWV 278 and 279 in the attempted complete edition of Handel’s works. Friedrich Chrysander edited it as volume 31 of “G.F. Händel’s Werke: Ausgabe der Deutschen Händelgesellschaft”, titled Utrechter Te Deum und Jubilate, with the texts in both English and German. Chrysander mentions in his preface a score published in 1731 by John Walsh: Te Deum and Jubilate, for Voices and Instruments performed before the Sons of the Clergy at the Cathedral-Church of St. Paul. Compos’d by George Frederick Handel. London. Printed for & sold by John Walsh. Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate has been published by Bärenreiter in the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe (HHA). The movement numbers below follow this critical edition.

Va tacito e nascosto

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Libretto#

Va tacito e nascosto, quand’avido è di preda, l’astuto cacciator. E chi è mal far disposto, non brama che si veda l’inganno del suo cor. The first verse of the text is used for the opening and final sections of the aria; the second verse for the middle section. Both verses have an identical rhyming scheme. The form of the verses is based on the style perfected by Metastasio, including the placement of poetic stress. Each line has seven sung syllables; the first two lines of each verse close with the stress on the penultimate syllable (versi piani), the final line of each with stress on the last syllable (verso tronco).

Violin sonata in G minor (HWV 364a)

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Movements#

Water Music

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Structure#

The Water Music opens with a French overture and includes minuets, bourrées, and hornpipes. It is divided into three suites:

Suite in F major (HWV 348)#

There are nine movements:

Suite in D major (HWV 349)#

There are five movements:

Suite in G major (HWV 350)#

There are four movements: There is evidence for the different arrangement found in Chrysander’s Gesellschaft edition of Handel’s works (in volume 47, published in 1886), where the movements from the “suites” in D and G were mingled and published as one work with HWV 348. This sequence derives from Samuel Arnold’s first edition of the complete score in 1788 and the manuscript copies dating from Handel’s lifetime. Chrysander’s edition also contains an earlier version of the first two movements of HWV 349 in the key of F major composed in 1715 (originally scored for two natural horns, two oboes, bassoon, strings, and continuo), where in addition to the horn fanfares and orchestral responses, the original version contained an elaborate concerto-like first violin part. The music in each of the suites has no set order today.

Wedding anthem for Princess Anne

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The German-born Handel had been resident in London since 1712 and had there achieved great success as a composer of Italian operas. He had also enjoyed the patronage of monarchs Queen Anne, George I and George II and other members of the royal family and had been commissioned by them to compose numerous pieces of music for worship services in the royal chapels as well as for other royal occasions. Handel enjoyed a particularly warm and close relationship with Anne, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of George II, who supported his opera seasons, was an accomplished musician herself, and to whom Handel even gave private lessons - although he did not enjoy teaching, he made an exception in her case. The evening before the wedding, the princess, the rest of the royal family and all their court attended the first performance of a full length operatic entertainment,“Parnasso in Festa”, specially composed by Handel for the occasion at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket where he was presenting his seasons of Italian operas, and with the same star opera singers who were appearing in his current successful opera. “Arianna in Creta”. It is a festive piece with double choruses, i.e., the choral writing is for eight parts rather than the usual four. During the wedding service, while the performance of Handel’s anthem was taking place there were no processions or ceremonies or other activities happening; the order of service indicated this was the only time the princess and her bridegroom sat in the chairs provided for them. They and everyone else present gave Handel’s music their full attention.

XV Handel solo sonatas (Chrysander)

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Summary#

The following table lists each of the sonatas included by Chrysander in his publication of 1879, as well as information about the instrument, the key, and the original sonata by Handel.

External links#

Handel – 19 Sonatas For Various Instruments (Chrysander)
Handel – Sonatas (Walsh), 1732 edition (“Note: This is more corect than the former edition”)

Zadok the Priest

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Text#

Part of the traditional content of British coronations, the texts for all four anthems were picked by Handel—a personal selection from the most accessible account of an earlier coronation, the Coronation of James II and VII and Mary in 1685. The text is a translation of the traditional antiphon, Unxerunt Salomonem, itself derived from the biblical account of the anointing of Solomon by the priest Zadok (1 Kings 1:38-40). These words have been used in every English, and later British, coronation since that of King Edgar at Bath Abbey in 973. An earlier setting is thought to have been written by Thomas Tomkins for the coronation of King Charles I in 1626, the text of which has survived but not the music. Henry Lawes wrote another for the coronation of King Charles II in 1661. This was also sung at James II’s in 1685, although the music may have been amended to accommodate changes to the text made by Archbishop William Sancroft. At the coronation itself on 11 October 1727, the choir of Westminster Abbey sang Zadok the Priest in the wrong part of the service; they had earlier entirely forgotten to sing one anthem and another ended “in confusion”.

George Frideric Handel on Music Theory Print

Acis and Galatea (Handel)

Composition history#

Admeto

Background#

Agrippina (opera)

Background#

Agrippina condotta a morire or Dunque sarà pur vero

Background#

Alceste (Handel)

External links#

Alcina

Performance history#

Alessandro (opera)

Background#

Alessandro Severo

Performance history#

Synopsis#

Recording#

Alexander Balus

Synopsis#

Alexander's Feast (Handel)

Structure of the work#

Recordings#

Alexander’s Feast today: performances and recordings#

All the Angels

Allor ch'io dissi addio

History#

Synopsis#

Structure#

Almira

Background#

Amadigi di Gaula

History#

Apollo e Dafne (Handel)

Synopsis#

Arianna in Creta

Performance history#

Ariodante

Background#

Arminio

Background#

As Pants the Hart (Handel)

HWV 251a#

Atalanta (opera)

Background#

Athalia (Handel)

Synopsis#

Aure soavi e lieti (Handel)

Background#

Beecham-Handel suites

Background#

Belshazzar (Handel)

Synopsis#

Act I#

Berenice (opera)

Background#

Brockes Passion (Handel)

Brockes’ text#

Catone (Handel)

Libretto#

Chandos Anthems

History#

Chandos Jubilate

Background#

Clori, Tirsi e Fileno

History#

Concerti grossi, Op. 3 (Handel)

Musical structure#

Concerti grossi, Op. 6 (Handel)

History and origins#

Coronation anthem

Handel’s coronation anthems#

Dalla guerra amorosa

Movements#

See also#

External links#

Daphne (Handel)

History#

Deborah (Handel)