Israel in Egypt

Israel in Egypt

"Israel in Egypt" (HWV 54) is a biblical oratorio by the composer George Frideric Handel. Many historians believe the libretto was compiled by Handel's collaborator Charles Jennens, and it is composed entirely of selected passages from the Hebrew Bible, mainly from Exodus and the Psalms.

Israel in Egypt premiered at London's King's Theatre in the Haymarket on April 4 1739. Handel started it soon after the opera season at King's theatre was cancelled because of a lack of subscribers. The oratorio was not well received by audiences, although commended in the "Daily Post", and the second performance was shortened, the mainly choral work now augmented with Italian arias.

An early version of the piece is in three parts rather than the later two; incorporating the first part more famous as "The ways of Zion do Mourn", with altered text as "The Sons of Israel do Mourn" lamenting the death of Joseph. This section precedes the Exodus which in the tripartite version is Part II rather than Part I. This variant has been recorded by Andrew Parrott and Stephen Cleobury a.o.

A recording of this oratorio, made in The Crystal Palace by Col. George Gouraud in 1888-06-29 on Edison's yellow paraffin cylinder, was for a long time the earliest known recording of music still in existence, before the rediscovery of the work of Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. This recording is badly degraded, and little can now be made out. Listen|filename=IsraelInEgypt18880629.ogg|title=Handel festival: "Israel In Egypt" (excerpt)|description=For a long time thought to be the earliest music recording in existence. Recorded on a paraffin cylinder on June 29, 1888. — 2274 KB|format=Ogg

External links

* [http://opera.stanford.edu/iu/libretti/israel.htm full-text libretto hosted by Stanford]
* libretto hosted by Wikisource.
* [http://www.bostoncecilia.org/prognotes/handel-israel.html Program Notes] by Boston Cecilia

References

Anthony Hicks. "George Frideric Handel", "Grove Music Online", ed. L. Macy (accessed May 20 2006), [http://www.grovemusic.com/ grovemusic.com] (subscription access).


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