George Frideric Handel by Balthasar Denner

''Saul'' ( HWV 53) is a dramatic

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

in three acts written 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 ...

with a libretto by Charles Jennens. Taken from the

First Book of Samuel The Book of Samuel () is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological ...

, the story of ''Saul'' focuses on the first king of Israel's relationship with his eventual successor,

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

—one which turns from admiration to envy and hatred, ultimately leading to the downfall of the eponymous monarch. The work, which Handel composed in 1738, includes the famous "Dead March", a funeral

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

for Saul and his son Jonathan following their deaths in the Battle of Mount Gilboa at the hands of the Philistines, and some of the composer's most dramatic choral pieces. ''Saul'' premiered successfully at the King's Theatre in London on 16 January 1739, and was revived by Handel in subsequent seasons.

Background

The German-born Handel had been resident in London since 1712 and had there enjoyed great success as a composer of Italian operas. His opportunities to set English texts to music had been more limited; he had spent the years 1717 to 1719 as composer in residence to the wealthy

Duke of Chandos The Dukedom of Chandos was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, named for a fief in Normandy. The Chandos peerage was first created as a barony by Edward III in 1337; its second creation in 1554 was due to the Brydges family's service to Mar ...

where he had written church anthems and two stage works, '' Acis and Galatea'' and ''

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

''; and had composed vocal music to English words for various royal occasions, including a set of Coronation anthems for George II in 1727, which had made a huge impact. In 1731, a performance of the 1718 version of ''Esther'', a work in English based on a Biblical drama by

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tr ...

, was given in London without Handel's participation and had proved popular, so Handel revised the work and planned to present it at the theatre where his Italian operas were being presented. However the

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

would not permit a drama based on a Biblical story to be acted out on the stage, and therefore Handel presented ''Esther'' in concert form, thus giving birth to the English oratorio. ''Esther'' in its revised form proved a popular work, and Handel, though still continuing to focus on composition of Italian operas, followed ''Esther'' with two more sacred dramas with English words to be presented in concert form, ''

Deborah According to the Book of Judges, Deborah (, ''Dəḇōrā'') was a prophetess of Judaism, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, and the only female judge mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Many scholars contend that the phrase, "a woman of Lap ...

'', and '' Athalia'' (which, like ''Esther'', was also based on a Biblical drama by Racine), both in 1733.

Composition and instrumentation

By 1738, Handel was experiencing some difficulty in maintaining support for his Italian opera seasons in London and he collaborated for the first time with Charles Jennens, a wealthy landowner and lover of the arts, who also provided the texts for ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

'' and other oratorios of Handel. Jennens wrote ''Saul'', an original English text based on Biblical characters, especially designed to provide opportunities for the sort of music Handel composed.

Opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abou ...

, the form of Italian opera that Handel composed for London, focused overwhelmingly on solo arias and recitatives for the star singers and contained very little else; they did not feature separate choruses. With the English oratorios Handel had the opportunity to mix operatic arias in English for the soloists with large choruses of the type that he used in the Coronation anthems. Jennens provided a text with well-rounded characters and dramatic effects. The collaboration with Jennens was not without tension; Jennens referred in a letter to the "maggots" in Handel's head and complained that Handel wanted to end the work with a chorus of "Hallelujahs" that the librettist did not feel was appropriate as at the end of the piece Israel has been defeated in battle and the King and Crown Prince both killed, whereas the Hallelujahs would be suited to the celebrations at the opening of the work when David has killed Goliath. Jennens got his way; in the completed version ''Saul'' does not end with a chorus of "Hallelujahs" but there is such a chorus where Jennens had wanted one. Handel composed the music of ''Saul'' between July and September 1738. He conceived ''Saul'' on the grandest scale and included a large orchestra with many instrumental effects which were unusual for the time including a carillon (a keyboard instrument which makes a sound like chiming bells); a specially constructed organ for himself to play during the course of the work; trombones, not standard orchestral instruments at that time, giving the work a heavy brass component; large

kettledrum Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

s specially borrowed from the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

; extra woodwinds for the Witch of Endor scene; and a harp solo. In the same letter in which Jennens complained that Handel wanted a chorus of "Hallelujahs" at a point of the drama the writer felt was inappropriate, he wrote of a meeting he had with Handel to discuss the work and the composer's delight in some of the unusual instruments he planned to use:

Mr. Handel's head is more full of Maggots than ever: I found yesterday in His room a very queer Instrument which He calls Carillon (Anglice a Bell) & says some call it a
Tubal-cain Tubal-cain or Tubalcain ( – ''Tūḇal Qayīn'') is a person mentioned in the Bible, in , named therein as the first blacksmith. He is stated as the "forger of all instruments of bronze and iron". A descendant of Cain, he was the son of Lamec ...
, I suppose because it is in the make and tone like a Hammer striking upon Anvils. 'Tis played upon with Keys like a Harpsichord, & with this Cyclopean Instrument he designs to make poor Saul stark mad. His second Maggot is an Organ of 500£ price, which (because he is overstock'd with Money) he has bespoke of one Moss of Barnet; this Organ, he says, is so contriv'd that as he sits at it he has a better command of his Performers than he us'd to have; & he is highly delighted to think with what exactness his Oratorio will be perform'd by the help of this Organ; so that for the future, instead of beating time at his Oratorio's, he is to sit as his Organ all the time with his back to the Audience ... I could tell you more of his Maggots: but it grows late, and I must defer the rest till I write next; by which time, I doubt not, more new ones will breed in his Brain.

Also of note in that letter is the fact that although Handel's London seasons of Italian opera had not been drawing the audiences they had in former years, Jennens makes an incidental remark that the composer was very wealthy ("overstock'd with money"). On 5 December 1738 Lady Katherine Knatchbull, a friend and patron of Handel's, wrote to her brother-in-law James Harris, who was a writer on music and other subjects, and also a friend of the composer, "(Handel) desired me to give his ''tres humble'' respects; and that you must come up in January, for he opens with The Loves of Saul and Jonathan, then follows another on the ten plagues of Egypt (to me an odd subject) ... He has had an instrument made after the manner of Tubal-cain's, the inventor of music." (referring to the specially-built carillon. Going on to an attempt to describe a trombone, an instrument she had obviously never seen, she writes:) "He has also introduced the

sackbut A sackbut is an early form of the trombone used during the Renaissance music, Renaissance and Baroque music, Baroque eras. A sackbut has the characteristic telescopic slide of a trombone, used to vary the length of the tube to change Pitch (m ...

, a kind of trumpet,with more variety of notes,& it is 7 or 8-foot long,& draws in like a perspective glass, so may be shortened to 3-foot as the player chuses, or thrown out to its full length; despise not this description for I write from his own words." In the 1954 edition of ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

'', specialist in the history of musical instruments

Anthony Baines Anthony Cuthbert Baines (6 October 1912 – 2 February 1997) was an English bassoon player and organologist who produced a wide variety of works on the history of musical instruments, and was a founding member of the Galpin Society.'' Experimenta ...

wrote that ''Saul'' contains the finest music for trombones composed in the 18th century.

Reception and performance history

A report in the London press remarked on the favourable reception given to the work at its first performance, with members of the royal family in attendance. The architect

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, b ...

wrote to Lord Burlington after the first performance, referring to the passage with the carillon, "There is a pretty concerto in the oratorio, there is some stops in the Harpsicord that are little bells, I had thought it had been some squerrls in a cage.'' Saul'' was given six performances in its first season, a mark of success at that time, and was one of the works Handel most frequently revived in his subsequent seasons, being given in London in 1740, 1741,1744,1745 and 1750. ''Saul'' received a performance in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

under Handel's direction "by special request" in 1742. Already in Handel's own lifetime, choral societies were formed in the English provinces with the aim of performing works of Handel and others, and ''Saul'' was performed with a fair degree of regularity by choral societies in London and elsewhere in Britain through the 19th century. Handel's major oratorios including ''Saul'' have been frequently performed, broadcast and recorded since the second half of the twentieth century. ''Saul'' is sometimes fully staged as an opera today. In October 2023,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

's Opera Society cancelled their performance of ''Saul'' due to the "current sensitive political situation and unfortunate escalation of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel." The excellence of the libretto and the power of Handel's musical characterisation combine to make ''Saul'', in the words of Handel scholar

Winton Dean Winton Basil Dean (18 March 1916 – 19 December 2013) was an English musicologist of the 20th century, most famous for his research on the life and works—in particular the operas and oratorios—of George Frideric Handel, as detailed in his bo ...

,"one of the supreme masterpieces of dramatic art, comparable with the ''

Oresteia The ''Oresteia'' () is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BC, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of the curse on the House ...

'' and ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

''".

Roles

Synopsis

The libretto is freely adapted from the First Book of Samuel, Chapters 16–31, with additional material from the epic poem, the ''Davideis'' by

Abraham Cowley Abraham Cowley (; 161828 July 1667) was an English poet and essayist born in the City of London late in 1618. He was one of the leading English poets of the 17th century, with 14 printings of his ''Works'' published between 1668 and 1721. Early ...

. The printed libretto of ''Saul'' from 1738 credits the ''Davideis'' as the source of the contemptuous treatment of David by Princess Merab.

Act 1

Saul Tries to Kill David by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

The Israelites raise their voices in magnificent thanksgiving to God, for the young warrior David has slain the

Philistine Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...

giant

Goliath Goliath ( ) was a Philistines, Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's giant, immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challen ...

. At the court of King Saul, once a mighty warrior himself, all the people celebrate the hero David. Saul's son, Jonathan swears eternal devotion to David, but Saul's two daughters experience contrasting emotions – Michal is in love with David, but Merab feels contempt for him as a social inferior, a feeling that only increases when Saul offers her in marriage to David. A group of Israelite young women offer further tributes to David. King Saul is enraged at the way David is praised. Unable to restrain his anger, he orders Jonathan to kill David.

Act 2

The people of Israel reflect on the destructive power of envy. Jonathan pleads David's case to Saul, who appears to relent. Saul asks Jonathan to bring David back to court and promises Michal as David's bride, though Saul anticipates David's death in battle. David and Michal express their mutual love, but David reports that Saul's rage has not diminished and that Saul threw a javelin close past his head in frustration. Saul summons David to court again as both Michal and Merab express their faith that God will protect David. Jonathan tries to explain to Saul why David has not responded to his summons. Saul rages against both David and Jonathan.

Act 3

In despair, and though aware it is unlawful, Saul asks the Witch of Endor to raise the ghost of Samuel the prophet. Asked for advice, the ghost of Samuel reminds Saul that he had once predicted his downfall for sparing the king of the Amalekites whom Samuel had ordered killed. He predicts that David will inherit the kingdom of Israel when Saul and his sons die in the next day's battle. David learns from an Amalekite soldier of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan at the hands of the Amalekites, and David orders the Amalekite killed. After a funeral march for the Israelite dead, Merab, David, and Michal each in turn express their sorrow, particularly for the loss of Jonathan. A high priest predicts David will win future victories and the Israelites urge him to restore their kingdom.

The "Dead March"

The "Dead March" played in Act Three, introducing the obsequies for the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, is in the key of C major. It includes an organ part and trombones alternating with

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

s and quiet

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

. The "Dead March" in ''Saul'' has been played at state funerals in the United Kingdom, including that of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. It is the standard funeral march of the armed forces of Germany, played at all state funerals. It was also performed at the funeral of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, during the funeral procession of

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern the ...

, as well as being played many times during the journey of the body of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

after his assassination to Springfield, Illinois. In 2015, it was performed at the state funeral of

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

, the first Prime Minister of Singapore.

List of arias and musical numbers

(Note: "Symphony" in this context means a purely instrumental piece. " Accompagnato" is a recitative accompanied by the orchestra, rather than by continuo instruments only, as in the passages marked "recitative."). ;Act One :1. Overture :''An Epinicion or Song of Triumph, for the victory :over ''Goliath and the Philistines.'' :2a. Chorus of Israelites "How excellent thy name, O Lord" :3. Air (soprano) "An infant rais'd by Thy command" :4. Trio "Along the monster atheist strode" :5. Chorus of Israelites "The youth inspir'd by Thee, O Lord" :2b.Chorus of Israelites "How excellent Thy name, O Lord" :''End of the Epinicion'' :6. Recitative (Michal) "He comes, he comes!" :7. Air (Michal)"O godlike youth" :8. Recitative (Abner, Saul, David) "Behold, O King" :9. Air (David) "O King, your favours with delight" :10. Recitative (Jonathan) "Oh, early piety!" :11. Air (Merab) "What abject thoughts a prince can have!" :12. Recitative (Merab) "Yet think on whom this honour you bestow" :13. Air (Jonathan) "Birth and fortune I despise!" :14. Recitative (High Priest) "Go on, illustrious pair!" :15. Air (High Priest) "While yet thy tide of blood runs high" :16. Recitative (Saul,Merab) "Thou, Merab, first in birth" :17. Air (Merab) "My soul rejects the thought with scorn" :18. Air (Michal "See, with what a scornful air" :19. Air ( Michal) "Ah, lovely youth" :20. Symphony :21. Recitative (Michal) "Already see the daughters of the land" :22. Chorus of Israelites "Welcome, welcome, mighty king!" :23. Accompagnato (Saul) "What do I hear? Am I then sunk so low" :24. Chorus of Israelites "David his ten thousands slew" :25. Accompagnato (Saul) "To him ten thousands, and to me but thousands!" :26. Air (Saul) "With rage I shall burst his praises to hear!" :27. Recitative (Jonathan,Michal) "Imprudent women!" :28. Air (Michal) "Fell rage and black despair possess'd" :29. Recitative (High Priest) "This but the smallest part of harmony" :30. Accompagnato (High Priest) "By Thee this universal frame" :31. Recitative (Abner) "Racked with infernal pains" :32. Air (David) "O Lord, whose mercies numberless" :33. Symphony :34. Recitative (Jonathan) "'Tis all in vain" :35. Air (Saul) "A serpent, in my bosom warm'd" :36. Recitative (Saul) "Has he escap'd my rage?" :37. Air (Merab) "Capricious man, in humour lost" :38. Accompagnato (Jonathan) "O filial piety!" :39. Air (Jonathan) "No, cruel father, no!" :40. Air (High Priest) "O Lord, whose providence" :41. Chorus "Preserve him for the glory of Thy name" ;Act Two :42. Chorus "Envy, eldest born of hell" :43. Recitative (Jonathan,David) "Ah, dearest friend" :44. Air (Jonathan) "But sooner Jordan's stream, I swear" :45. Recitative (David,Jonathan) "Oh, strange vicissitude" :46. Air (David) "Such haughty beauties" :47. Recitative (Jonathan) "My father comes" :48. Recitative (Saul) "Hast thou obey'd my orders" :49. Air (Jonathan) "Sin not, O King" :50. Air (Saul) "As great Jehovah lives, I swear" :51. Air (Jonathan) "From cities stormed, and battles won" :52. Recitative (Jonathan, Saul) "Appear, my friend" :53. Air (David) "Your words, O King" :54. Recitative (Saul) "Yes, he shall wed my daughter!" :55. Recitative (Michal) "A father's will has authorized my love" :56. Duet (Michal and David) "O fairest of ten thousand fair" :57. Chorus "Is there a man, who all his ways" :58. Symphony :59. Recitative (David) "Thy father is as cruel" :60. Duet (David and Michal) "At persecution I can laugh" :61. Recitative (Michal,Doeg) "Whom dost thou seek" :62. Air (Michal) "No, no, let the guilty tremble" :63. Recitative (Merab) "Mean as he was, he is my brother now" :64. Air (Merab) "Author of peace" :65. Symphony :66. Accompagnato (Saul) "The time at length is come" :67. Recitative (Saul, Jonathan) "Where is the son of Jesse?" :68. Chorus "Oh, fatal consequence of rage" ;Act Three :69. Accompagnato (Saul) "Wretch that I am" :70. Accompagnato (Saul) "'Tis said, here lives a woman" :71. Recitative (The witch of Endor, Saul) "With me what would'st thou?" :72. Air (Witch) "Infernal spirits" :73. Accompagnato (The Ghost of Samuel,Saul) "Why hast thou forc'd me from the realms of peace" :74. Symphony :75. Recitative (David, an Amalekite) "Whence comest thou?" :76. Air (David) "Impious wretch, of race accurst!" :77. Symphony: Dead march :''Elegy on the death of Saul and Jonathan'' :78. Chorus "Mourn, Israel, mourn" :79. Air (High Priest) "Oh, let it not in Gath be heard" :80. Air (Merab) "From this unhappy day" :81. Air (David) "Brave Jonathan his bow never drew" :82. Chorus of Israelites "Eagles were not so swift as they" :83. Air (Michal) "In sweetest harmony they lived" :84. Solo and Chorus (David and Israelites) "O fatal day! How low the mighty lie!" :''End of the Elegy'' :85. Recitative (High Priest) "Ye men of Judah, weep no more!" :86. Chorus of Israelites "Gird on thy sword, thou man of might"

Musical features

''Saul'' is composed for soloists and chorus, two flutes, two oboes, two trumpets, three trombones, kettledrums, organ, harp, continuo instruments, and strings. The work begins and ends in C major, a key choice which may have been influenced by the presence of trombones in the orchestra. Handel's other work of the same season to use trombones, Israel in Egypt, also favours C major for the choruses with trombones in their accompaniment. The first piece of music is an overture in the Italian style in three movements, the first quick and fugal, then a slow movement, followed by another quick section with the addition of a concerto-like passage for organ, which Handel played himself at the original performances as he directed the musicians. The overture is followed by a slower dance-like piece for orchestra,marked ''andante larghetto''.

Act One

The act begins with the chorus of celebration after David has slain Goliath. Trumpets and trombones, which were not present in the overture, are now added. The chorus of rejoicing is developed briefly in

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

. A slower

air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

for soprano in a minor key praising David's achievement is followed by a chorus for alto, tenor and bass marked, unusually, ''Ardito'' (boldly), and then a longer chorus with developed counterpoint is heard. The chorus which opened the act is repeated, followed by a jubilant chorus of "Hallelujah", to end the opening "Epinicion or Song of Triumph". The expansive scale of the multi-part overture, and the glitter and celebratory quality of the Epinicion are indications, according to Jonathan Keates, of the ambition of the work as a whole and its monumental achievement. Other of the most notable musical features of Act One include the chorus and dance movement including the carillon with a chorus of praise for David, which rouse King Saul to terrible jealousy. David's attempt to soothe the King is conveyed in an aria of "simple purity","O Lord, whose mercies numberless", followed by harp solo. David's efforts are in vain, and the King's jealousy breaks out into an aria of fury "A serpent, in my bosom warm'd", which suddenly and unexpectedly breaks off as the King hurls his javelin at David, depicted in the music by descending octaves in the strings. A chorus in the key of G minor, developed contrapuntally, ends the act as the chorus pray that God will protect David.

Act Two

The second act begins as the chorus comment on the drama after the manner of the chorus in Greek tragedy, in "Envy, eldest born of hell" which according to musicologist Paul Henry Lang is "as mighty a piece as Handel ever composed". Dotted rhythms over a relentlessly repeated

ostinato In music, an ostinato (; derived from the Italian word for ''stubborn'', compare English ''obstinate'') is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch. Well-known ostinato-based pieces inc ...

bass depict the obsessive jealousy of the King as the chorus warn him "Hide thee in the black night". Two purely instrumental passages ("symphonies") feature in Act Two. The first, depicting the celebrations for the wedding of David and Michal, is in three parts, a slow and solemn introduction with trombones prominent, the second section a brisk organ concerto, concluding with a slower movement in the form of a

gavotte The gavotte (also gavot, gavote, or gavotta) is a French dance, taking its name from a folk dance of the Gavot, the people of the Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné in the southeast of France, where the dance originated, accordin ...

. The second instrumental passage in the act is a shorter festive piece with trumpets and drums, trombones, woodwinds and strings, depicting the holiday of the New Moon. A chorus in the key of D major, with a

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, es ...

fugal section at the end, concludes the act as the chorus denounce the King as a monster for the attempted murders of both Jonathan and David.

Act Three

Act three opens with a powerful and dramatic accompanied recitative for King Saul as he seeks advice from the Witch of Endor. The Witch invokes the ghost of Samuel in a passage which conjures up a supernatural atmosphere by the use of an irregular bass line with prominent oboes and bassoons. Bassoons also introduce the Ghost of Samuel as the apparition prophesies doom for the King. A martial "Battle symphony" with trumpets and drums ensues, followed shortly by the famous Dead March. Chorus and soloists mourn the deaths of the King and his son, and the work concludes with a chorus in the key of C major urging David to lead his country into battle against its enemies.

Selected recordings

References

External links

* Libretto for

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

WikiSource Wikisource is an online wiki-based digital library of free-content source text, textual sources operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole; it is also the name for each instance of that project, one f ...

. * Full-tex
libretto
online. * {{Authority control Oratorios by George Frideric Handel 1738 oratorios Oratorios based on the Bible Witch of Endor Saul Cultural depictions of David