Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1883 edition. Excerpt: ... grief--as in Armida's great Aria, in Rinaldo--he uses the Minor Third; but never, when the sadness to be depicted springs from the calm affliction of a well-regulated mind. And yet, the simple Chords of the Dead March speak of sorrow infinitely deeper than that felt by the Paynim Sorceress: and David, in the tender strains of 'In sweetest harmony, ' can scarcely sing for sobbing. Handel originally intended to combine the several Movements of the Funeral Anthem with this portion of the Oratorio, and has actually written the words of it, between some fragments of Recitative, in the autograph Score. But, it is far better as it is: and when, in ' Gird on thy sword, ' the Chorus call upon David to play the man, we feel that all that can be said upon the subject has been said. The first performance of Saul took place at the King's Theatre, on the 16th of January, 1739. The next great Oratorio, Israel in Egypt, was constructed upon a different plan, the words being selected entirely from Holy Scripture, and arranged upon the plan of an Epic Poem. The entire absence of the personal element led Handel to illustrate this striking subject in a series of gigantic Double Choruses, built on a more colossal scale than any he had hitherto produced. But, this mode of enforcing the meaning of the sacred text by no means excluded the descriptive element. Many of the huge eight-part Choruses depict the Scenes to which they refer with irresistible power; and even the Solo passages are highly picturesque, in the noblest sense of the word. The wail of the Children of Israel beneath the oppressor's rod; the once bright Nile, now rolling downwards in waves of loathsome gore; the clammy reptiles, forcing their repulsive presence into the King's chambers; the myriad.