Samson an oratorio for soloists mixed chorus and orchestra by George Frideric Handel libretto by Newburgh Hamilton after Milton’s Samson Agonistes. Edited by Donald Burrows. This latest addition to the Novello Handel Edition is the first complete modern edition of the composer’s longest oratorio prepared after examination of all known contemporary sources both music and word-books. The publication embodies the complete text known to have been performed at the Covent Garden premiere in 1743 as well as identifying the later shorter versions and additions performed regularly by Handel and an Appendix of allfurther variants created by him and performed during his lifetime. It is thus a comprehensive and flexible edition for between four and eight soloists with an abundance of choral writing and some of Handel’s most sublime writing for voices.Includes an historical preface extensive notes on the performance of the different versions and useful practical notes on the interpretation of Handel.

The choral scene is in a state of change! On the one hand more and more choirs are lacking in male voices yet at the same time more and more female choirs are looking for high-quality literature beyond folksong arrangements. Bärenreiter is responding to these general trends with the publication of arrangements for three-part female choir (SMA) of well-known frequently-performed works.The first editions to be published are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Coronation Mass” K.317 (BA 5691) a much-performed work within the standard repertoire and the “Missa brevis in D major” K. 194 (BA 5690-90) a charmingalternative for use in church services. With great skill and sensitivity to the music Heribert Breuer has carefully retained the substance of the original works at the same time giving them a completely new sound quality.- Arrangements for female choir (SMA) based on the Urtext of the “New Mozart Edition”- Idiomatic Piano reductionsThe arranger Heribert Breuer was professor of choral conducting and music theory at the Berlin University of the Arts until 2010. He is founder and director of the Berlin Bach Akademie and has made a name for himself with his numerous arrangements of works from Bach to Schubert.

The St. John Passion was first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday of 1724. Written three years before the St. Matthew Passion it was a work Bach revised during the rest of his life in fact he did not leave us a definitive version either in print or fair copy. The sources give evidence of four different versions used at four performances - 1724 1725 around 1730 and during the last years of Bach's life. They often contain two or more readings for the same passage or even different movements that on different occasions occupied the same place in the work.Barenreiter's edition uses the final version IV as its basis with alternativemovements and readings contained in the appendices. A comprehensive preface in the study score (German/English) TP197 gives full information.- Full score performance material (BA5037) vocal score (BA5037-90) and study score (TP197) available for sale.

Oratorio in three parts-In quite characteristic fashion for the times Handel’s opera “Alessandro” looks at various episodes in the life and rule of Alexander the Great (356 323 BC). This legendary warrior and military commander conquered large parts of the world before meeting an untimely end at the age of 32. A central conflict in Handel’s opera is Alessandro being in love with two women Lisaura and Rossane who compete for his favour. In addition his claim to be of divine parentage is underlined occasioning him to demand the subservience of his followers which meets with vigorous disapproval.Handel composed “Alessandro” for the Royal Academyof Music to a libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli in the 1725/26 season. The work was premiered at the King’s Theatre in London on 5 May 1726. “Alessandro” was the first of five operas for the Royal Academy operas which saw Handel compose for three of the most famous singers of his time: Francesco Bernardi (called Senesino) Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni.Ortensio Mauro’s libretto “La superbia d’Alessandro ” which was performed for the first time in Hanover in 1690 in a musical setting by Agostino Steffani and staged again in the city the following year under the title “Il zelo di Leonato” but with numerous alterations served as the source text for Handel’s “Alessandro”. One of the main aspects Rolli had to consider when preparing the libretto for the London performances was to keep the roles of the famous singers of the Royal Academy well balanced yet at the same time to engineer a musical contest between the prima donnas Cuzzoni and Bordoni (Lisaura and Rossane) as well. From a business point of view it made good sense for such rivalry would surely increase public interest in the opera.It is no longer possible to ascertain which changes Handel made during the following performance series of the 1727/28 season. For the performance series of 1732/33 Handel made substantial revisions to the opera: six numbers were deleted in their entirety the finale in part as well and the recitatives were made much shorter with the parts of Cleone and Leonato omitted

Today the Gloria RV 589 (BA 7674) is one of Vivaldi?s best-known compositions and one of the most frequently performed sacred vocal works from the Baroque period.Vivaldi wrote the ?Gloria? as a self-contained work in the style of a concertante mass. However it was probably also performed within church services. The scoring of the solo voices (SSA) suggests that the work was written during his period at the Ospedale della Piet around 1716. In the twelve movements of the ?Gloria? Vivaldi displays the whole range of his mastery from festive sublime outer movements to tender transparently scored solopassages.The same mastery has also been applied to the ? Kyrie? RV 587 (BA 8950) scored for two choirs and two groups of stringed instruments. The date of its composition remains unclear. It is a purely a choral work without solo passages.Both works can be performed independently but can also be combined as a kind of short mass. Although the authenticity of the autograph manuscript score is beyond doubt these new editions contain some re-evaluations in phrasing and performance practice which go beyond what other editions have to offer. The Piano reductions are straightforward clearly presented and preserve the character of the works.- Attractive choral pieces which can be combined to form a short mass.- Vocal score as well as choral score available for the ?Gloria?.- Informative foreword (Ger/Eng).

Urtext edition-Vocal score and performance material available for sale.Lavishly scored oratorio of a festive nature.Based on the New Bach Edition.Bilingual foreword by Andreas Glöckner (Ger/Eng).Bach composed his oratorio for the Feast of the Ascension in Leipzig in 1735. Though this work has the duration of a cantata the choice of text places it among the oratorios. It combines the biblical account of the Ascension with chorales and free madrigal poems. As in other works which were composed during this same year (e.g. the Christmas Oratorio) Bach reveals a special fondness for colourful orchestration with two Flutes two Oboes threeTrumpets Timpani and Strings creating a splendid Baroque sound with a strikingly festive character.This edition is based on the thoroughly researched musical text from the New Bach Edition.

Vocal score and performance material available for sale.Lavishly scored oratorio of a festive nature.Based on the New Bach Edition.Bilingual foreword by Andreas Glöckner (Ger/Eng).Bach composed his oratorio for the Feast of the Ascension in Leipzig in 1735. Though this work has the duration of a cantata the choice of text places it among the oratorios. It combines the biblical account of the Ascension with chorales and free madrigal poems. As in other works which were composed during this same year (e.g. the Christmas Oratorio) Bach reveals a special fondness for colourful orchestration with two Flutes two Oboes threeTrumpets Timpani and Strings creating a splendid Baroque sound with a strikingly festive character.This edition is based on the thoroughly researched musical text from the New Bach Edition.

Vocal score and performance material available for sale.Lavishly scored oratorio of a festive nature.Based on the New Bach Edition.Bilingual foreword by Andreas Glöckner (Ger/Eng).Bach composed his oratorio for the Feast of the Ascension in Leipzig in 1735. Though this work has the duration of a cantata the choice of text places it among the oratorios. It combines the biblical account of the Ascension with chorales and free madrigal poems. As in other works which were composed during this same year (e.g. the Christmas Oratorio) Bach reveals a special fondness for colourful orchestration with two Flutes two Oboes threeTrumpets Timpani and Strings creating a splendid Baroque sound with a strikingly festive character.This edition is based on the thoroughly researched musical text from the New Bach Edition.

Par PURCELL HENRY. Purcell Dido and Aeneas (Full Score, paperback) The opera ?Dido and Aeneas?, a recount of the well-known story from Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid, has established itself as a favourite with the public. This is due to the skill of composer Henry Purcell and his librettist Nahum Tate, who combined an overriding tragic theme with masterfully inserted comic episodes. Long believed to have been conceived in 1689 for a performance at a ?School for Young Gentlewomen?, scholars have debated the origins of ?Dido? in recent decades, a process hampered by the lack of early musical sources. This edition addresses these challenges and evaluates the earliest sources that reproduce the opera in its surviving form. Surprisingly, these date from the 1770s and 80s, some ninety years after the work was written. Three key manuscripts ? now held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford (UK), at Tatton Park Library which is a National Trust property near Manchester (UK), and at the Wakayama Prefectural Library (Japan) - were all copied from the same original, most likely a handwritten score from 1704 which reappeared in the early 1770s, only to disappear again. This is the first 'Dido' edition based on the Tatton Park manuscript as the main source. It was produced during the second half of the 18th century by Philip Hayes, one of England's most prominent musicians. He was known in musicology for his meticulous copies of Purcell's music, often from the autograph manuscripts. The Bodleian and Wakayama manuscripts are presented in a new light and their role in this edition has been reassessed accordingly. - Urtext edition based for the first time on the Tatton Park manuscript as the main source - Informative Foreword (Eng/Ger) on the genesis, transmission, reception and performance practice - Complete facsimile reproduction of the Chelsea libretto / Date parution : 2023-06-01/ Répertoire / Solistes, Choeur Mixte et Orchestre

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy completed his first oratorio St. Paul Op.36 in 1836 at the age of twenty-seven. The first version which was premiered on 22 May 1836 was then extensively revised by the composer. This second version which at the same time served as the basis for the published version was premiered as early as October that year in Birmingham. The acclaim with which the oratorio was received was exceptional. Within eighteen months of completing the score Mendelssohn was able to list fifty performances of the work. Robert Schumann praised the work effusively and even Richard Wagner who later denigrated Mendelssohn was full of admiration. Today St. Paul belongs to the core repertoire of sacred choral music.This Urtext edition of the oratorio edited by the internationally-recognised Mendelssohn scholar Michael Cooper is based on all critical sources. As well as the principal version of the work the score also includes for the first time numbers which were composed for the first version and subsequently removed. This gives not only an insight into the history of the composition of the work but also with the complete performing material into the performance of the original version.The full score and vocal score (BA9071-90) include the German and English texts of the oratorio.The vocal score is by Mendelssohn.Urtext edition representing the latest musicological researchIncludes all numbers from the original version for the first timeVocal texts in German and EnglishStraightforward Piano reduction

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy completed his first oratorio St. Paul Op.36 in 1836 at the age of twenty-seven. The first version which was premiered on 22 May 1836 was then extensively revised by the composer. This second version which at the same time served as the basis for the published version was premiered as early as October that year in Birmingham. The acclaim with which the oratorio was received was exceptional. Within eighteen months of completing the score Mendelssohn was able to list fifty performances of the work. Robert Schumann praised the work effusively and even Richard Wagner who later denigrated Mendelssohn was full of admiration. Today St. Paul belongs to the core repertoire of sacred choral music.This Urtext edition of the oratorio edited by the internationally-recognised Mendelssohn scholar Michael Cooper is based on all critical sources. As well as the principal version of the work the score also includes for the first time numbers which were composed for the first version and subsequently removed. This gives not only an insight into the history of the composition of the work but also with the complete performing material into the performance of the original version.The full score and vocal score (BA9071-90) include the German and English texts of the oratorio.The vocal score is by Mendelssohn.Urtext edition representing the latest musicological researchIncludes all numbers from the original version for the first timeVocal texts in German and EnglishStraightforward Piano reduction