Israel in Egypt
Israel in Egypt | |
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King's Theatre, Haymarket | |
Movements | 46 |
Scoring |
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Israel in Egypt,
Israel in Egypt premiered at London's
The first version of the piece is in three parts rather than two, the first part more famous as
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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] 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
Much more than the previous works by Handel which were designed, like Israel in Egypt, to attract paying audiences to a commercial venture in a privately owned theatre, the piece lays overwhelming emphasis on the chorus.
Synopsis
Part One
The Israelites mourn the death of Joseph, Israelite and favoured adviser to Pharaoh, King of Egypt. The first part includes the choruses "The Sons of Israel Do Mourn" and "How Is the Mighty Fallen".
Part Two
An announcement is made that a new Pharaoh has come to the throne who does not look kindly on the Israelites. God chooses
Part Three
The Israelites celebrate their deliverance.[2][3][6] A series of joyful choruses are included in the third part, with the piece concluding with a soprano solo and chorus proclaiming that 'the Lord shall reign for ever and ever' and 'the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea'.
Very early wax cylinder recording of excerpt
For a long time, the earliest known recording of music known to still exist was an excerpt from this oratorio conducted by
References
- ^ Chrissochoidis, Ilias. "'true Merit always Envy rais'd': the Advice to Mr. Handel (1739) and Israel in Egypt's early reception" (PDF). The Musical Times. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-0805070705.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Swack, Jeanne. "Handel, Israel in Egypt, Program Notes" (PDF). music.wisc.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ^ a b Risinger, Mark. "An oratorio of emancipation and deliverance". The Providence Singers. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d Winton Dean, "An Oratorio by Accident?" liner notes to the recording by John Eliot Gardiner, Decca 478 1374
- ^ a b Neff, Teresa M. "Handel's "Israel in Egypt"". WGBH. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- ^ "Organ concerto in F major "Cuckoo & the Nightingale"". Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ Israel in Egypt, directed by John Eliot Gardiner
- ISBN 978-0802195616
- ISBN 9780099587170.
External links
- Israel in Egypt: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Free scores of Israel in Egypt in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Full-text libretto hosted by Stanford
- Three small excerpts in mp3 & ogg by Swiss choir and orchestra on period instruments Archived 11 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Very Early Recorded Sound, mp3 excerpt of the 1888 recording.