Oratorio by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
Solomon
,
HWV
67, is an
oratorio
by
George Frideric Handel
. The anonymous
libretto
? currently thought to have been penned by the English Jewish poet/playwright
Moses Mendes
(d.1758)
[1]
? is based on the biblical stories of the wise king
Solomon
from
the First Book of Kings
and
the Second Book of Chronicles
, with additional material from
Antiquities of the Jews
by ancient historian
Flavius Josephus
. The music was composed between 5 May and 13 June
1748
, and the first performance took place on 17 March
1749
, with
Caterina Galli
in the title role at the
Covent Garden Theatre
in London, where it had two further performances. Handel revived the work in 1759.
[2]
The oratorio contains a short and lively instrumental passage for two
oboes
and strings in Act Three, known as "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba", which has become famous outside the context of the complete work, and was featured at the
2012 London Olympics opening ceremony
as
James Bond
(
Daniel Craig
) goes to meet
the Queen
at
Buckingham Palace
.
[3]
Background
[
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]
Theatre at Covent Garden where
Solomon
was first performed
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 at first been more limited; he had spent the years 1717 to 1719 as composer in residence to the wealthy
Duke of Chandos
where he had written church anthems and two stage works,
Acis and Galatea
and
Esther
; and had composed vocal music to English words for various royal occasions, including a set of
Coronation anthems
for
King George II
in 1727, which had made a huge impact.
[4]
In 1731, a performance of the 1718 version of
Esther
, a work in English based on a Biblical drama by
Jean Racine
, was staged in London without Handel's participation and had proved popular, so Handel revised the work and planned to have it performed at the theatre where his Italian operas were being presented.
However the
Bishop of London
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.
[5]
: 212
Such was the success of his oratorios in English that eventually Handel abandoned Italian opera, his last being
Deidamia
in 1741, and produced a string of masterpieces of oratorio in English.
[6]
Opera seria
, 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. The oratorios found a wider audience among more social classes than the aristocratic audience who had sponsored and enjoyed Handel's Italian operas.
[7]
Solomon
was widely recognised by commentators of the day as a
eulogy
for
Georgian England
, with the just and wise King Solomon representing King George II, and the mighty, prosperous kingdom of Israel reflecting the similarly happy state of England at the time of the work's premiere, in the view of its creators.
[8]
However, a 21st-century commentator has noted that
Solomon
was not a great commercial success with London audiences of the time, possibly because of complexities and ambiguities in its portrayal of the central character King Solomon.
[7]
Dramatis personae
[
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]
Giulia Frasi, soprano, creator of several roles in Solomon
Synopsis
[
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]
The Judgement of Solomon
after
Peter Paul Rubens
Act 1
[
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]
The work begins with Solomon and his people celebrating the consecration of the
Temple
he has built in
Jerusalem
. Solomon rejoices in his married happiness to his one wife (unlike the biblical Solomon, who is stated to have had hundreds of wives and
concubines
),
[10]
and promises to build his queen a palace for her.
[5]
They express their love for each other and retire for the night as flower-scented breezes and nightingales' songs lull them to rest.
[11]
Act 2
[
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]
The wisdom of Solomon is presented in the
famous biblical story
of two
harlots
who each claimed a single baby as her own. Solomon offers to solve the case by splitting the infant in half with his sword, but the real mother rejects this solution and offers to hand the child over to the other woman, as Solomon knew the true parent would do.
[10]
The First Harlot and the chorus praise Solomon's judgement.
[11]
Act 3
[
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]
In Act Three we see a state visit from the
Queen of Sheba
to Solomon's kingdom. The king and his people entertain her with a musical
masque
of magnificent choruses depicting in turn the "lulling" sound of gentle music, the desire for military glory, the despair of an unhappy lover, and a storm which turns to calm.
[5]
[11]
All celebrate the Israel of the wise ruler Solomon as a Golden Age of peace, happiness, and prosperity.
[10]
List of musical numbers
[
edit
]
Act Three begins with the very famous
sinfonia
known as "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba".
(Note: "Sinfonia" 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
- Scene 1
:
Solomon, Zadok, priests and chorus
- 2.Your harps and cymbals (chorus)
- 3.Praise ye the Lord (Levite ? air)
- 4.With pious heart (chorus)
- 5.Almighty Power (Solomon ? accompagnato)
- 6.Imperial Solomon (Zadok ? recitative)
- 7.Sacred raptures (Zadok ? air)
- 8.Throughout the land (chorus)
- 9.Bless’d be the Lord (Solomon ? recitative)
- 10.What though I trace (Solomon ? air)
- Scene 2
:
To them the Queen
- 11.And see my Queen (Solomon ? recitative)
- 12.Bless’d the day (Queen ? air)
- 13.Thou fair inhabitant of Nile (Solomon, Queen ? recitative)
- 14.Welcome as the dawn of day (Queen Solomon ? duet)
- 15.Vain are the transient beauties (Zadok ? recitative)
- 16.Indulge thy faith (Zadok ? air)
- 17.My blooming fair (Solomon ? recitative)
- 18.Haste to the cedar grove (Solomon ? air)
- 19.When thou art absent (Queen ? recitative)
- 20.With thee th’unshelter’d moor (Queen ? air)
- 21.May no rash intruder ("Nightingale Chorus") (chorus)
|
- Act Two
- Scene 1
:
Solomon, Zadok, Levite, chorus of priests and Israelites
- 22.From the censer curling rise (chorus)
- 23.Prais’d be the Lord (Solomon ? recitative)
- 24.When the sun o’er yonder hills (Solomon ? air)
- 25.Great prince (Levite ? recitative)
- 26.Thrice bless’d that wise discerning king (Levite ? air)
- Scene 2
:
To them an attendant
- 27.My sovereign liege (Attendant, Solomon ? recitative)
- Scene 3
:
To them the two harlots
- 28.Thou son of David (First harlot ? recitative)
- 29.Words are weak (First and second harlot, Solomon ? trio)
- 30.What says the other (Solomon, second harlot ? recitative)
- 31.Thy sentence, great king (Second harlot ? air)
- 32.Withhold, withhold the executing hand (First harlot ? recitative)
- 33.Can I see my infant gor’d (First harlot ? air)
- 34.Israel attend (Solomon ? accompagnato)
- 35.Thrice bless’d be the king (First harlot, Solomon ? duet)
- 36.From the east unto the west (chorus)
- 37.From morn to eve (Zadok ? recitative)
- 38.See the tall palm (Zadok ? air).
- 39.No more shall armed bands (First harlot ? recitative)
- 40.Beneath the vine (First harlot ? air)
- 41.Swell, swell the full chorus (chorus)
|
- Act Three
- 42.Sinfonia ("Arrival of the Queen of Sheba")
- Solomon, Queen of Sheba, Zadok, chorus of Israelites
- 43.From Arabia’s spicy shores (Queen of Sheba, Solomon ? recitative)
- 44.Ev’ry sight these eyes behold (Queen of Sheba ? air)
- 45.Sweep, sweep the string (Solomon ? recitative)
- 46.Music spread thy voice around (Solomon and chorus)
- 47.Now a different measure (Solomon and chorus)
- 48.Then at once from rage remove (Solomon ? recitative)
- 49.Draw the tear from hopeless love (chorus)
- 50.Next the tortur’d soul release (Solomon ? recitative)
- 51.Thus rolling surges rise (Solomon and chorus)
- 52.Thy harmony’s divine (Queen of Sheba ? recitative)
- 53.Pious king (Levite ? air)
- 54.Thrice happy king (Zadok ? recitative)
- 55.Golden columns (Zadok ? air)
- 56.Praise the Lord (chorus)
- 57.Gold now is common (Solomon ? recitative)
- 58.How green our fertile pastures look (Solomon ? air)
- 59.May peace in Salem (Queen of Sheba ? recitative)
- 60.Will the sun forget to streak (Queen of Sheba ? air)
- 61.Adieu, fair queen (Solomon ? recitative)
- 62.Ev’ry joy that wisdom knows (Queen of Sheba, Solomon ? duet)
- 63.The name of the wicked (chorus)
|
performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra with Humbert Lucarelli and Edino Biaggi on
oboes
Musical features
[
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]
Solomon
is richly orchestrated by the standards of its day, calling for an orchestra of flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets, timpani, strings, and
basso continuo
instruments. Many of the grand and varied choruses are in eight parts ("a double chorus") instead of the more usual four parts.
[8]
The final number of Act I is the chorus “May no rash intruder”, usually called the Nightingale Chorus, with flutes imitating birdsong over a gentle rustling effect created by strings divided into numerous different parts.
[8]
Act 3 begins with the very famous
sinfonia
known as "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba", a bright and sprightly orchestral piece featuring oboes which has often been used outside the context of the oratorios as a processional piece.
[3]
Sir Thomas Beecham
is believed to have given the name "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" to this sinfonia
[
citation needed
]
, perhaps in 1933 when he made a recording of it, or perhaps in 1955 when he recorded the oratorio in an abridged and re-orchestrated form.
Recordings
[
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]
Solomon
discography
Year
|
Cast
|
Conductor, chorus and/or orchestra
|
Label
|
1955
2005 digital remaster
|
John Cameron
Elsie Morison
Alexander Young
Lois Marshall
|
Sir
Thomas Beecham
Beecham Choir Society
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
|
EMI 2 CDs 5 86516 2
|
1967
|
Saramae Endich
Patricia Brooks
Alexander Young
John Shirley-Quirk
|
Stephen Simon
Vienna Youth Choir
Vienna Volksoper Orchestra
|
RCA Red Seal Records
, 1968
3 LPs LP LSC 6187
|
June 1984,
St John's, Smith Square,
London, after performances
in Gottingen, Germany;
incomplete
|
Carolyn Watkinson
Nancy Argenta
Barbara Hendricks
Joan Rodgers
Della Jones
Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Stephen Varcoe
|
John Eliot Gardiner
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
|
Philips digital recording
3 LPs 289-412612-1
2 CDs 289-412612-2
3 MC 289-412612-4
|
July and Aug. 1998,
All Saints Church,
Tooting, London
|
Andreas Scholl
Inger Dam-Jensen
Susan Gritton
Paul Agnew
|
Paul McCreesh
, conductor
Gabrieli Consort
|
CD:
Archiv Produktion
Cat:4596882
|
2003
|
Michael Chance
Nancy Argenta
Laurie Reviol
Julian Podger
Steffen Balbach
|
Jurgen Budday
Maulbronn Chamber Choir
Hannoversche Hofkapelle
|
K&K Verlagsanstalt
, 2004
2 CDs KuK 73 /
ISBN
3-930643-73-1
|
2006
|
Mark Padmore
Sarah Connolly
Susan Gritton
Carolyn Sampson
|
Daniel Reuss
Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin
|
CD:
Harmonia Mundi
Cat:HMC 901949.50
|
2006
|
Ewa Wolak
Elisabeth Scholl
Nicola Wemyss
Knut Schoch
|
Joachim Carlos Martini
Frankfurt Baroque Orchestra
Junge Kantorei
|
CD:
Naxos
Cat:8.557574-75
|
2007
|
Tim Mead
Dominque Labelle
Claron McFadden
Roderick Williams
|
Nicholas McGegan
Winchester Cathedral Choir
Festspielorchester Gottingen
|
CD:Carus
Cat:CARUS83242
|
2022
|
Ana Maria Labin
Gwendoline Blondeel
Christopher Lowrey
|
Leonardo Garcia Alarcon
Millenium Orchestra
Chœur de Chambre de Namur
|
CD:
Ricercar
Cat:RIC449
|
Notes
[
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]
- ^
Andrew Pink.
‘Solomon, Susanna and Moses : locating Handel's anonymous librettist’.
Eighteenth Century Music
. Volume 12 / Issue 02 (September 2015) pp. 211-222.
; accessed 6 April 2016
- ^
a
b
"G. F. Handel's Compositions"
. The Handel Institute. Archived from
the original
on 24 September 2013
. Retrieved
28 September
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Schwarm, Betsy.
"The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba"
. Britannica.com
. Retrieved
28 April
2014
.
- ^
Kemp, Lindsay.
"Programme Notes for Saul"
(PDF)
. BBC
. Retrieved
28 September
2013
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
a
b
c
Burrows, Donald (2012).
Handel (Master Musicians Series)
. Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition.
ISBN
978-0-19-973736-9
.
- ^
Hicks, Anthony
(2013), "Handel, George Frideric",
Grove Music Online
,
Oxford University Press
(subscription required)
- ^
a
b
Martini, Joachim C.
"Programme notes for "Solomon" HWV 67"
.
www.naxos.com
. Naxos Records. Archived from
the original
on 31 May 2016
. Retrieved
29 April
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
Lang, Paul Henry (2011).
George Frideric Handel
(reprint ed.). Dover Books on Music.
ISBN
978-0-486-29227-4
.
- ^
Zadok the Priest
, HWV 258, is also the title of one of four
Coronation Anthems
written by Handel for the coronation of
George II of Great Britain
but apart from its name, the work is unconnected with the
Solomon
oratorio.
- ^
a
b
c
Woodstra, Chris (1 September 2005).
All Music Guide to Classical Music: The Definitive Guide to Classical Music (All Music Guides)
. Backbeat Books.
ISBN
0879308656
.
- ^
a
b
c
Knapp, J. Merrill.
"Programme notes for "Solomon"
"
. Opera Today
. Retrieved
28 April
2014
.
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