SKU: BA.BA04014
ISBN 9790006442935. 33 x 26 cm inches. Text Language: English. Preface: Nott, Kenneth. Text: Thomas Morell.
“Jephtha†is Handel’s last oratorio. Handel had to break off from composing several times because of his increasing blindness in 1751. The first performance at the Covent Garden Theatre in February 1752 was the last performance he conducted before he went completely blind.In “Jephthaâ€, Handel succeeded in achieving the perfect fusion between a biblical plot and the spirit of classical tragedy. With great intensity and dramatic expression he highlighted in particular the fates of Jephtha and Iphis , thereby portraying convincing and complex characters.The chorus “How Dark, O Lord, are Thy Decrees†at the end of part two is of crucial importance in the work and is regarded as the dramatic high point of the oratorio.The vocal score is based on volume I/30 of the “Halle Handel Edition†(BA 4014), which contains the complete critical version of the music of the oratorio for the first time.
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SKU: BA.BA10726-01
ISBN 9790006575596. 33 x 26 cm inches. Text Language: Italian. Preface: Pacholke, Michael.
In the brief half-year period from August 14, 1736, to January 27, 1737, Georg Friedrich Handel achieved an unprecedented level of productivity in his opera compositions, creating three operas. Additionally, in March 1737, he also composed a largely new oratorio titled â??Il trionfo del Tempo e della Verità â? (â??The Triumph of Time and Truthâ?) HWV 46b. The libretto of this oratorio closely corresponds to that of the oratorio â??La Bellezza ravveduta nel trionfo del Tempo e del Disingannoâ? (â??Beauty Reconciled in the Triumph of Time and Enlightenmentâ?) HWV 46a written in 1707. With â??La Bellezza ravvedutaâ?, Handel composed an allegorical and particularly dramatic oratorio right at the beginning of his oratorio compositions. In this work, there is no chorus inclined towards reflection. Not only do the four allegorical figures, Bellezza (Beauty), Piacere (Pleasure), Tempo (Time), and Disinganno (Enlightenment), listen to each other and react to the ideas presented by the others, but this prevailing dramatic principle of dispute is also found in the recitatives.In 1737, when reworking the oratorio material as â??Il trionfo del Tempo e della Verità â?, Handel approached the task pragmatically. He needed a new non-dramatic work to fulfill the eveningâ??s program for his audience at the Covent Garden Theatre during the fasting season when theatrical performances were prohibited. Although he had excellent Italian vocal soloists, notorious for their pronunciation in Handelâ??s English oratorios and who naturally preferred singing in Italian, Handel found a solution. It was evident to Handel that, in response to the ban on performances of his Italian operas during the fasting season of 1737, he should promptly create a new oratorio in the Italian language but following the three-part â??Englishâ? oratorio form that he had developed in â??Estherâ? HWV 50b in 1732. Unlike in Rome in 1707, he had access to a chorus in London in 1737, and the English oratorio, with its substantial choral sections, a preference for concert-like rather than dramatic composition, and frequent inclusion of organ concertos loosely related to the narrative, was already established.The new volume of the HHA includes the original version of the 1737 premiere as well as all the surviving early and later versions (the latter being exceptional highlights) of individual musical pieces from â??Il trionfo del Tempo e della Verità â?.
SKU: BA.BA04096
ISBN 9790006550098. 33 x 26 cm inches. Text Language: Italian. Preface: Terence Best. Text: Carlo Sigismondo Capece.
The Italian oratorio La Resurrezione (The Resurrection) was written during Handel’s time in Rome. It was performed on Easter Sunday 1708 with great splendour and extravagance by a large orchestra conducted by Arcangelo Corelli in the Palazzo Bonelli, the Roman palazzo of Handel’s patron the Marchese Francesco Maria Ruspoli. In its dramatic structure and characterisation of the protagonists, the work displays a striking affinity with Italian opera. Lucifer’s raging sixty fourth notes call to mind the demon characters in Venetian opera and Maddalena’s arias are so full of expressive power and virtuosity that Handel later incorporated one of them into his opera Agrippina. The unusual musical richness of this work and the virtuosic and masterly shaping of the arias make it a welcome addition to any concert programme.
SKU: BA.BA04099
ISBN 9790006550111. 33 x 25.7 cm inches. Text Language: English. Preface: Hans Dieter Clausen. Text: Newburgh Hamilton.
Handel composed Samson directly after completing the Messiah. After its premiere in 1743 in the Covent Garden Theatre in London, the work rapidly became one of the composerâ??s most successful oratorios alongside Esther and Judas Maccabaeus. This probably had as much to do with the popular Old Testament story of the libretto as with Handelâ??s masterly shaping of the arias and choruses.By including some movements in the appendix, this edition makes it possible for the first time to perform the work in its original 1741 version. The edition is based on the complete edition volume of the Halle Handel Edition (BA 4099), offering the complete music text of the oratorio for the first time.
SKU: BA.BA04089
ISBN 9790006550081. 33 x 26 cm inches. Text Language: English. Text: Newburgh Hamilton.
The “Occasional Oratorio†was composed as a reaction to a political event which shook the whole of England : the Jacobite rebellion of 1745-46 against the Hanoverian monarchy was crushed under the leadership of the Duke of Cumberland. Handel, who was working on the oratorio “ Judas Maccabaeus†at the time, composed the oratorio quickly and reused some movements from earlier works. With the choice of a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton he demonstrated his support for the monarchy. The work was first performed on 14 February 1746 at the Covent Garden Theatre in London . For the first time this seldomly performed oratorio which nevertheless contains wonderful music is available in an Urtext edition based on the “ Halle Handel Edition†. All available sources have been consulted. Further movements which Handel added for later performances are included in the appendix.
SKU: BA.BA04025-01
ISBN 9790006443222. 33 x 26 cm inches. Text Language: English.
Handelâ??s â??Semeleâ?, which premiered in February 1744, is based on an adapted version of William Congreveâ??s opera libretto titled â??The Story of Semeleâ?, originally published in 1706. However, neither Handel nor his librettist referred to â??Semeleâ? as an opera or an oratorio, which, according to the understanding at the time, would have required a biblical and/or Christian subject matter. Contemporary audiences also disagreed on the genre. The problematic classification as an oratorio has persisted into the present day, likely due to the edition labeled as such by Chrysander. The â??Halle Handel Editionâ? (HHA) distances itself from this classification and, considering the available sources, refrains from assigning a genre label.Congreve deviates from the mythological source multiple times in order to create tensions among the characters. The desired marriage between Semele and Athamas, whom she does not love, is an addition by Congreve to provoke the envy of her sister Ino, who desires Athamas herself. Therefore, Ino sees her own advantage in Semeleâ??s abduction by Jupiter. While Jupiterâ??s wife Juno decides to destroy Semele out of jealousy for his relationship with her, Jupiter brings Ino to his palace to console Semele. The vengeful Juno takes advantage of Inoâ??s presence and transforms into her likeness, persuading Semele to carry out a plan that later proves fatal. In the end, Ino emerges as the winner, as she is able to convince their father, Cadmus, to marry her to Athamas. The appearance of Apollo in the final scene to announce that Semeleâ??s immortal son Bacchus was saved from her ashes provides little consolation. However, this twist allows the drama to conclude with exuberant joy and a magnificent final chorus after the tragic scenes in the third act, culminating in the death of the protagonist.Handelâ??s autograph score shows significant deviations from and numerous revisions of the original version premiered. All surviving early versions, the musical movements deleted before the premiere, and the version of the December 1744, are given in the appendix to the HHA.
SKU: BA.BA04052
ISBN 9790006495702. 33.1 x 26 cm inches. Nicola Francesco Haym.
Handel began the composition of Tamerlano, one of the supreme masterpieces of Baroque opera seria, on 3rd July 1724. The libretto was an adaptation by Nicola Haym of Agostino Piovene's Tamerlano, Tragedia per musica, which had been set to music by Francesco Gasparini, and performed in Venice in 1711. When Handel dated the last page of the autograph on 4rd July the work appeared to be complete; but during the three months which passed before the premiere at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket on 31 October, so many alterations and revisions were made that a fresh performing-score had to be writtern very late in the proceedings, to replace an earlier one which is now 1ost.There were twelve performances between 31 October 1724 and 8 May 1725. Handel revived the opera only once, in 1731, for three performances. For this revival he marked in the performing score a number of cuts in the recitatives, which are reproduced in the present edition; there is more recitative in Tamerlano than in any other Handel opera.
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