''Ero e Leandro'', also known after its first line as ''Qual ti reveggio, oh Dio'' ( HWV 150), is a 1707 Italian-language

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

, composed during his stay in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to a libretto believed to be written by Cardinal

Pietro Ottoboni Pope Alexander VIII ( it, Alessandro VIII; 22 April 1610 – 1 February 1691), born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 1689 to his death in February 1691. He is to date the las ...

.GFHandel.com
G. F. Handel's Compositions HWV 101-200
. Accessed 14-3-2009 It is a reworking of the Greek myth of

Hero and Leander Hero and Leander is the Greek myth relating the story of Hero ( grc, Ἡρώ, ''Hērṓ''; ), a priestess of Aphrodite (Venus in Roman mythology) who dwelt in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Hellespont, and Leander ( grc, Λέ ...

, with the soprano soloist taking the role of Hero. In it, Hero finds her love, Leander, drowned, tears out her hair, thus symbolically rejecting the beauty which had led to Leander's fascination with her (and thus his death), then drowns herself.Ellen T. Harris (2001), ''Handel as Orpheus'' Harvard University Press, , , p. 50 It is composed for a soprano solo (with no other singers), and a small orchestra consisting of two oboes, and two string sections: a concertino of solo violin and violoncello, and a concerto grosso made up of two violins, a viola, and continuo. In ''Ero e Leandro'', Recitatives alternate with arias, as was normal at the period for not only cantatas, but

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

s and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s as well; however, unusually, ''Ero e Leandro'' ends with a recitative, instead of an aria. ''Ero e Leandro'' comes from a period very early in Handel's career, when Handel, having travelled to Italy in 1706, was replacing his former Germanic style of composition with the Italian style that he would use for the rest of his life.Boyden et al, p. 56 Music from it would be reused by Handel in his later compositions: Themes taken from this opera appear in both Handel's Recorder Sonata Opus 1, No 2 and in his '' Utrecht Te Deum'' for the setting of "Vouchsafe, O Lord". In ''

Agrippina Agrippina is an ancient Roman cognomen and a feminine given name. People with either the cognomen or the given name include: Cognomen Relatives of the Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa: * Vipsania Agrippina (36 BC–20 AD), first wife of th ...

'', Agrippina's aria "Non ho che cor amarti" was taken, almost entirely unadapted, from "Se la morte non vorrà". It is the only of Handel's cantatas known, to reasonable certainty, to have been written under the patronage of Cardinal

, an important patron of the arts in Italy for whom Handel is known to have written many cantatas, but, outside of ''Ero e Leandro'', it's somewhat uncertain which these are. ''Ero e Leandro'' was first published in 1999 as part of Hallische Händel-Ausgabe's attempt to create a complete edition of all of Handel's works. It appears in ''Georg Friedrich Händel. Kantaten mit Instrumenten, III: HWV 150, 165, 166, 170, 171, 173''.

Music

*Qual ti reveggio, oh Dio (Recitative) *Empio mare (Aria) *Amor, che ascoso (Recitative) *Se la morte non vorrà (Aria) *Questi dalla mia fronte (Recitative) *Si muora (Aria) *Ecco, gelide labbra (Recitative)

References

{{Authority control 1708 cantatas Cantatas by George Frideric Handel