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''Alexander's Feast'' ( HWV 75) is an
ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...
with music by
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
set to a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton. Hamilton adapted his libretto from
John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...
's
ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...
'' Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music'' (1697) which had been written to celebrate Saint Cecilia's Day.
Jeremiah Clarke Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674 – 1 December 1707) was an English baroque composer and organist, best known for his ''Trumpet Voluntary,'' a popular piece often played at wedding ceremonies or commencement ceremonies. Biography The exact date of Cla ...
(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 The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
, London, on 19 February 1736. In its original form it contained three concertos: a concerto in B flat major in 3 movements for "Harp, Lute, Lyrichord and other Instruments" HWV 294 for performance after the recitative ''Timotheus, plac'd on high'' in Part I; a concerto grosso in C major in 4 movements for oboes, bassoon and strings, now known as the "Concerto in Alexander's Feast" HWV 318, performed between Parts I and II; and an organ concerto HWV 289 in G minor and major in 4 movements for chamber organ, oboes, bassoon and strings performed after the chorus ''Let old Timotheus yield the prize'' in Part II. The organ concerto and harp concerto were published in 1738 by John Walsh as the first and last of the Handel organ concertos Op.4. Handel revised the music for performances in 1739, 1742 and 1751. The work was performed a total of 25 times during Handel's lifetime, making it one of the most frequently performed oratorios in his career. Donald Burrows has discussed Handel's revisions to the score. The work describes a banquet held by
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
and his mistress Thaïs in the captured
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n city of
Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...
, 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 A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
s Anna Maria Strada and Cecilia Young, the
tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
John Beard, and a
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
called Erard (first name unknown).


Structure of the work

*Part one: # Overture # Recitative (tenor): Twas at the royal feast'' # Aria and chorus (tenor): ''Happy, happy pair'' # Recitative: ''Timotheus plac'd on high'' # Recitative (Soprano): The song began from Jove # 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 (soprano): ''Softly sweet in Lydian measures'' # Aria (tenor): ''War, he sung, is toil and trouble'' # Chorus: ''The many rend the skies with loud applause'' # Aria (soprano): ''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 (tenor): ''The princes applaud with a furious joy'' # Aria and chorus (soprano): ''Thais led the way'' # Recitative (tenor): ''Thus long ago'' # Chorus: ''At last divine Cecilia came'' # Recitative (soloists + chorus): ''Let old Timotheus yield the prize'' # Chorus: ''Let old Timotheus yield the prize'' # Organ concerto, Opus 4 Number 1 # Chorus: ''Your voices tune''


Recordings

* ''Alexander's Feast'' or The Power of Musick, HWV 75: Honor Sheppard, soprano; Max Worthley, tenor; Maurice Bevan, bass; Oriana Concert Choir & Orchestra, conducted by
Alfred Deller Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referr ...
; Recorded 1964 (Authentic Instruments) — 2 LP Bach Guild BG-666—BG-667 * ''Alexander's Feast'' or The Power of Music, HWV 75: Felicity Palmer, soprano; Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor; Stephen Roberts, bass; Stockholm Bach Choir &
Concentus Musicus Wien Concentus Musicus Wien (CMW) is an Austrian baroque music ensemble based in Vienna. The CMW is recognized as a pioneer of the period-instrument performance movement. History Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Alice Harnoncourt co-founded the CMW in 19 ...
, conducted by
Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, known for his historically informed performances. He specialized in music of the Baroque period, but later extended his repertoire to include Classical ...
; Recorded 1977 (Authentic Instruments) — 2 LP Teldec 6.35440 978— 2 CD Teldec 6 3984-26796-2 6
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* ''Alexander's Feast'' or The Power of Music,: Helen Donath, soprano-1; Sally Burgess, soprano-2; Robert Tear, tenor; Thomas Allen, baritone; Choir of King's College, Cambridge &
English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra spe ...
, conducted by
Philip Ledger Sir Philip Stevens Ledger, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, FRSE (12 December 1937 – 18 November 2012) was an English classical musician, conducting, choirmaster and academic, best remembered as Director of the Choir of King' ...
; Recorded 1978 (Modern Instruments) at King's College Chapel – 2 LP EMI 1C 157 03 404/5
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— 2 CD
Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...
Classics, (as part of 5-CD boxset:) Virgin Classics 5 62118 2 003 * ''Alexander's Feast'': Donna Brown, soprano; Carolyn Watkinson, contralto; Ashley Stafford, countertenor; Nigel Robson, tenor; Stephen Varcoe, bass; Monteverdi Choir &
English Baroque Soloists The English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on authentic performance, period instruments, formed in 1978 by English Conducting, conductor John Eliot Gardiner, Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early B ...
, conducted by
John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...
; Recorded live in 1987 (Authentic Instruments) at the Stadthalle
Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
– 2 CD Philips 422 053-2
988 Year 988 ( CMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Fall – Emperor Basil II, supported by a contingent of 6,000 Varangians (the future Varangian Guard), organiz ...
Philips 00289 475 777–4
006 Alec Trevelyan is a fictional character who is the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye,'' portrayed by actor Sean Bean. Bean's likeness was also used as the model for Alec Trevelyan in the 1997 video game '' GoldenEye 007' ...
* ''Alexander's Feast'': Nancy Argenta, soprano; Ian Partridge, tenor; Michael George, bass;
The Sixteen The Sixteen (previously known as the Symphony of Harmony and Invention) are a British choir and period instrument orchestra. Founded by Harry Christophers, they started as an unnamed group of sixteen friends in 1977, giving their first bille ...
, conducted by Harry Christophers; Recorded 1990 (Authentic Instruments) – 2 CD Collins Classics 70 162
991 Year 991 (Roman numerals, CMXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events * March 1: In Rouen, Pope John XV ratifies the first Peace and Truce of God, Truce of God, between Æthelred the Unready and Richard I o ...
Musical Society Heritage 525259X 998 Coro COR16028 004


''Alexander's Feast'' today: performances and recordings

The soprano aria ''War, he sung, is toil and trouble'' was featured in Alfonso Cuaron's film '' Children of Men''.


References


External links

* * Full-tex
libretto
hosted by
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
.
Score
of ''Alexander's Feast'' (ed. Friedrich Chrysander, Leipzig 1861) * {{Authority control 1736 oratorios 1736 in England Oratorios by George Frideric Handel Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great Cultural depictions of Thaïs Music based on works by John Dryden