Deborah (Handel)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oratorios by George Frideric Handel

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)

Deborah (HWV 51) is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. It was one of Handel's very early oratorios and was based on a libretto by Samuel Humphreys. It received its premiere performance at the King's Theatre in London on 21 February 1733.

The story of the oratorio takes place in a single day and is based on the Biblical stories found in 4 and 5 Judges. The Israelites have been subjugated for 20 years by the Canaanites, when the prophetess Deborah foretells the death of the Canaanite commander Sisera at the hands of a woman. The Israeli commander Barak leads them into battle against the Canaanites and they come out victorious because Jael, wife of a friend of Sisera, assassinated him during the battle. Celebration ensues.

[edit] Dramatis personae

  • Deborah (soprano)
  • Barak (alto)
  • Abinoam (bass)
  • Sisera (alto)
  • Jael (soprano)
  • An Israelite Woman (soprano)
  • Chief Priest of Israelites (bass)
  • Chief Priest of Baal (bass)
  • Herald (tenor)
  • Chorus of the Priests and Israelites
  • Chorus of the Priests of Baal

[edit] E-book

Score of Deborah (ed. Friedrich Chrysander, Leipzig 1869)

[edit] External links