Rosemary Broadbent<\/p>\n
Handel\u2019s Messiah is so widely known and loved that it is easy to forget that it is just one of a
\nlong series of dramatic oratorios, composed at the height of the composer\u2019s powers.
\nWe owe this great series of oratorios to increasing problems with Handel\u2019s opera
\nenterprises, which had been the talk of London for many years. The establishment of a second opera
\ncompany in London \u2013 one supported by the King and one by the Prince of Wales, who were at
\nloggerheads \u2013 resulted within a few years in bankruptcy for both. Handel was also exercised by the
\nproblem of securing work and income for his company during Lent, when dramatic performances
\nwere forbidden. His inspired solution was to create works based on Biblical stories, performed in the
\ntheatre but without acting or costume. How could the church object to that?<\/p>\n
Naturally, the composer sought out the most dramatic stories from the Old Testament, so
\nwe find battles and plagues and dramatic confrontations equal to anything in the Greek and Roman
\nhistory favoured by opera librettists. In place of acting and costume, the drama transfers into the
\nmusic, not only in solo arias but in magnificent choruses on a scale never attempted in opera at this
\nperiod. We have to look ahead at least fifty years to find such choruses on the stage.<\/p>\n
We shall consider one early and one late oratorio, giving us the chance to appreciate the
\ndevelopment of Handel\u2019s style over more than thirty years. Acis and Galatea (1718) is variously
\ndescribed as a serenata, a \u2018little opera\u2019 and an oratorio, and it went through various revisions. It
\nbecame one of Handel\u2019s most frequently performed works in his lifetime, although it is less often
\nheard today. In some ways it is a simple pastoral story derived from Dryden\u2019s translation of Ovid, but
\nit is made extraordinary by the dramatic r\u00f4le of the chorus and the passion they convey. It is hard to
\nlisten to the chorus Mourn, all ye Muses without catching your breath.<\/p>\n
Jephtha was Handel\u2019s last oratorio and dates from 1752. Here there is a whole family of
\nindividual characters and the range of emotion depicted is wide and extraordinarily vivid. The
\nchoruses and ensembles have a depth and complexity which strain at the limits of accepted Baroque
\nstyle. Throughout our discussions it will be interesting to reflect on the comparison of these works
\nwith Messiah, and this all-too-familiar work will no doubt merge freshly illuminated.<\/p>\n
One final sobering thought. Last Autumn the Cambridge University Opera Society cancelled a
\nplanned production of a Handel\u2019s oratorio Saul because its narrative of war, victory and celebration
\nwas out-of-tune with the contemporary world situation. Should we then step back from Jephtha,
\nwhich also celebrates a victory in battle? No! because that is only half the story. The apparent victor
\nis emotionally destroyed by what he has done, his family is torn apart, and the greatest suffering is
\nvisited upon the innocent. It bears a moral for our troubled times.<\/p>\n
To sign up to the course please go to: https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/?page_id=5517<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rosemary Broadbent Handel\u2019s Messiah is so widely known and loved that it is easy to forget that it is just one of a long series of dramatic oratorios, composed at the height of the composer\u2019s powers. We owe this great series of oratorios to increasing problems with Handel\u2019s opera enterprises, which had been the talk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,22,78,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-education","category-music","category-online-course","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mancent.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Retrato_de_HandelFXD.jpg?fit=800%2C1120&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6175"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6180,"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6175\/revisions\/6180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mancent.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}