Alexander's Feast (Handel)

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Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (1707)
La Resurrezione (1708)
Brockes Passion (1715)
Esther (1718)
Acis and Galatea (1718)
Esther (1732)
Deborah (1733)
Athalia (1733)
Alexander's Feast (1736)
Il trionfo del Tempo e della Verità (1737)
Saul (1738)
Israel in Egypt (1738)
L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (1740)
Messiah (1741)
Samson (1741)
Semele (1743)
Joseph and his Brethren (1743)
Hercules (1744)
Belshazzar (1744)
Occasional Oratorio (1746)
Judas Maccabaeus (1746)
Joshua (1747)
Alexander Balus (1747)
Susanna (1748)
Solomon (1748)
Theodora (1749)
The Choice of Hercules (1750)
Jephtha (1751)
The Triumph of Time and Truth (1757)

Alexander's Feast (HWV 75) is a choral work with music by George Frideric Handel set to a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton. Hamilton adapted his libretto from John Dryden's ode Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music (1697) which had been written to celebrate Saint Cecilia's Day. Jeremiah Clarke (whose score is now lost) set the original ode to music. Handel composed the music in January 1736, and the work received its premiere at the Covent Garden Theatre, London on 19 February 1736. Handel revised the music for performances in 1739, 1742 and 1751. Donald Burrows has discussed Handel's revisions to the score.^[1] ^[2]

The work describes a banquet held by Alexander the Great and his mistress Thais in the captured Persian city of Persepolis, during which the musician Timotheus sings and plays his lyre, arousing various moods in Alexander until he is finally incited to burn the city down in revenge for his dead Greek soldiers.

The piece was a great success and it encouraged Handel to make the transition from writing Italian operas to English choral works. The soloists at the premiere were the soprano Anna Maria Strada del Pò, the tenor John Beard, and a bass called Erard (first name unknown).

1 Structure of the work
2 Recordings
3 References
4 E-book
5 External links

[edit] Structure of the work

Part one:

Overture
Recitative (tenor): 'Twas at the royal feast
Aria and chorus: Happy, happy pair
Recitative: Timotheus plac'd on high
Harp Concerto, Opus 4, Number 6 in B Flat
Recitative: The song began from Jove
Chorus: The list'ning crowd
Aria (soprano): With ravish'd ears
Recitative: The praise of Bacchus
Aria and chorus: Bacchus ever fair and young
Recitative: Sooth'd with the sound
Recitative: He chose a mournful muse
Aria (soprano): He sung Darius, great and good
Recitative: With downcast looks
Chorus: Behold Darius great and good
Recitative: The mighty master smil'd
Arioso: Softly sweet in Lydian measures
Aria: War, he sung, is toil and trouble
Chorus: The many rend the skies with loud applause
Aria: The prince, unable to conceal his pain
Chorus: The many rend the skies with loud applause

Part two:

Recitative and chorus: Now strike the golden lyre again
Aria (bass): Revenge, Timotheus cries
Recitative: Give vengeance the due
Aria: The princes applaud with a furious joy
Aria and chorus: Thais led the way
Recitative: Thus long ago
Chorus: At last divine Cecilia came
Recitative: Let old Timotheus yield the prize
Chorus: Let old Timotheus yield the prize
Organ concerto, Opus 4 Number 1
Chorus: Your voices tune

[edit] Recordings

Alexander's Feast or The Power of Music, HWV 75 : Felicity Palmer, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Stephen Roberts, Stockholm Bach Choir, Concentus Musicus Wien, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt - 2 LP Teldec 6.35440 [1978] - 2 CD Teldec 6 3984-26796-2 6 [2000]
Alexander's Feast : Nancy Argenta, Ian Partridge, Michael George, The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers (Collins Classics, 1991)
Alexander's Feast : Thomas Allen, Robert Tear, Helen Donath, Sally Burgess, Chorus of King's College, English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Philip Ledger - 2 CD Virgin Classics