The oratorio, La Resurrezione (1708) is considered by many to represent the summary of George Frederic Handel's Italian compositions. This achievement would not have been realized without the support of Handel's young and ambitious Roman patron, Francesco Ruspoli. The money and effort that Ruspoli spent on the staging of this oratorio confirm that it was planned as the climax for the Easter musical festivities in 1708. The preliminary chapters of this thesis present the background to the presentation of La Resurrezione and include discussions on Handel's presence in Rome, his relationship with Ruspoli, the role of the Accademia dell' Arcadia, and a biography of Carlo Capece, the librettist of the oratorio. Musical issues relating to the oratorio are discussed in chapter four. These include: manuscript sources, the performers of the work, and Handel's musical response to Capece's libretto. The use of a buffo bass (and the notion of Lucifer as a comic character) is traced back to the mid-seventeenth-century. The focus of chapter five is on the music of La Resurrezione, and on examples of Handel's subsequent re-use of the music. As well, the stimuli that prompted Handel to refer to a particular borrowing source are examined. Often a similar dramatic situation prompted Handel's recollection of a previous source; at other times a comparable textual affect, a similar phrase or even a single word in common provided the stimulus for borrowing. The five borrowing groupings discussed in the chapter are chosen because they represent the various means that prompted Handel's recollection of a previous source. Each grouping is organized by an appropriate term which reinforces the argument that it is a textual word, phrase or affect that is the key to understanding the borrowings. A consideration of the borrowings highlights Handel's great talent for portraying people and varying dramatic situations.

This thesis explores the relationship between Handel's borrowing practice and his creation of a new genre---the English Biblical oratorio. It focuses on the types of borrowing, the genres Handel borrowed from, and the use of self-borrowing vs. borrowing from other composers. A comprehensive list of borrowings discovered in Handel's Biblical oratorios (Appendix A) allows the patterns in Handel's borrowing practice and the evolution of the genre to be revealed and discussed. / Chapter One provides a review of the literature on Handel's borrowing in general and the historical roots of Handel's Biblical oratorios. Chapter Two looks at the scholarly treatment of Handel's borrowing, and goes on to discuss specific musical examples of three borrowing types: Type I (reuse), Type II (rework), and Type III (new work). The final chapter identifies borrowing patterns that emerge in Handel's early, middle, and late Biblical oratorios. The borrowing type shifts from Type I to Type III, whereas the genres borrowed from change from sacred choral works to secular operas. Self-borrowings dominate in his early oratorios, drastically decrease in the middle period, and increase again in the late period.

The sacred oratorio Jephtha, Handel's last major work, contains intense drama, impressive character development and a brilliant use of music. In studying the work one discovers not only a masterpiece of art, but also learns a great deal about the composer who, through his music, discloses much of his soul. From a formal point of view key schemes are important.There are different editions of this score; some are more reliable than others. When studying the score one should be aware of the significant number of borrowings present in this work; these include borrowings from Handel's own works as well as from works of others.It is important for every musician to be familiar with the Baroque style as its study will be necessary in performance of music of that period. There are many things to consider when determining a Baroque interpretation of this work. These include style of wind and string playing, phrasing, pitch, ornamentation, instrumentation, and tone quality. It has become common practice, in performance of a Baroque work, to strive towards achieving a recreation of the original performance of the seventeenth or eighteenth century. / School of Music

The oratorio, La Resurrezione (1708) is considered by many to represent the summary of George Frederic Handel's Italian compositions. This achievement would not have been realized without the support of Handel's young and ambitious Roman patron, Francesco Ruspoli. The money and effort that Ruspoli spent on the staging of this oratorio confirm that it was planned as the climax for the Easter musical festivities in 1708. The preliminary chapters of this thesis present the background to the presentation of La Resurrezione and include discussions on Handel's presence in Rome, his relationship with Ruspoli, the role of the Accademia dell' Arcadia, and a biography of Carlo Capece, the librettist of the oratorio. Musical issues relating to the oratorio are discussed in chapter four. These include: manuscript sources, the performers of the work, and Handel's musical response to Capece's libretto. The use of a buffo bass (and the notion of Lucifer as a comic character) is traced back to the mid-seventeenth-century. The focus of chapter five is on the music of La Resurrezione, and on examples of Handel's subsequent re-use of the music. As well, the stimuli that prompted Handel to refer to a particular borrowing source are examined. Often a similar dramatic situation prompted Handel's recollection of a previous source; at other times a comparable textual affect, a similar phrase or even a single word in common provided the stimulus for borrowing. The five borrowing groupings discussed in the chapter are chosen because they represent the various means that prompted Handel's recollection of a previous source. Each grouping is organized by an appropriate term which reinforces the argument that it is a textual word, phrase or affect that is the key to understanding the borrowings. A consideration of the borrowings highlights Handel's great talent for portraying people and varying dramatic situations. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

No description available.

Handel's Messiah occupies a unique position in the musical life of South Africa. No item from the canon of 'classical' European choral music has been performed more often, over a longer period of time, and in a wider range of social contexts. This thesis seeks to answer two broad and interrelated questions: what were the social processes which brought this situation about; and how were perceptions of Messiah's meaning affected by its performance in social contexts markedly different from those of its origins? I concentrate on the two South African choral traditions for which Messiah has been central- those of the 'English' and 'African' communities - and on the period from the first documented performance of any item from Messiah until the emergence of a pattern of annual performances, which I take as a significant indicator of the historical moment at which the music could be regarded as firmly established in its new context. The history of Messiah's performance and reception in South Africa is traced using previous research on South African musical history and my own archival research and interviews. Following the broad outline of 'depth hermeneutics' proposed by John Thompson, I regard performances of Messiah as symbolic forms in structured contexts, and I interpret them through an analysis of relevant aspects of Jennens's libretto and Handel's music, of the discourse that surrounded the performances (where examples of this have survived), and of the social contexts and processes in which the performances were embedded. In examining the interactions of these different aspects, I draw on a variety of theoretical and methodological strands within musicology, cultural studies, and South African historical research. The cultural value accorded to Messiah emerges as a central theme. As a form of symbolic capital highly valued by dominant groups (the 'establishment') in the relevant South African contexts, it became an indicator of 'legitimate' identity and therefore of status. For both the English settlers and the emerging African elite (the primary agents in the establishment of Messiah in South Africa), it could represent the cultures in relation to which they defined themselves, towards which they aspired and within which they sought recognition: respectively, those of the metropole and of 'Western Christian civilization'. In political terms, this had the potential both to reinforce existing patterns of domination and to challenge them. Examples are given of the ways in which, at different moments in its South African history, Messiah was mobilized to support or to subvert an established political order, as a result of the specific meanings that it was understood to convey. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

There is an increasing interest in the operas of Georg Frideric Handel, both from a scholarly perspective, and that of the modern, professional opera company. Producers of Handelian opera have moved away from productions similar to those staged in Halle, Germany, in the 1920s, which featured vastly reduced recitative and stripped the da capo aria to a single statement of the 'A' section. Modern productions have restored Handel's musical text, and in addition have attempted to recreate the original dramatic conditions and ethos of the work. The problem faced by the Halle producers still exists, however. How does the modern producer satisfy the expectations of the modern audience, while remaining faithful to the intention of the composer and the original production. This paper will investigate a possible approach to staging Handelian opera, with specific reference to the 'Mad Scene' from Handel's opera Orlando. Included in this examination will be a discussion of eighteenth-century British staging practices. These elements will be considered in the light of stage design and scenic practices of the period.

There is an increasing interest in the operas of Georg Frideric Handel, both from a scholarly perspective, and that of the modern, professional opera company. Producers of Handelian opera have moved away from productions similar to those staged in Halle, Germany, in the 1920s, which featured vastly reduced recitative and stripped the da capo aria to a single statement of the 'A' section. Modern productions have restored Handel's musical text, and in addition have attempted to recreate the original dramatic conditions and ethos of the work. The problem faced by the Halle producers still exists, however. How does the modern producer satisfy the expectations of the modern audience, while remaining faithful to the intention of the composer and the original production. This paper will investigate a possible approach to staging Handelian opera, with specific reference to the 'Mad Scene' from Handel's opera Orlando. Included in this examination will be a discussion of eighteenth-century British staging practices. These elements will be considered in the light of stage design and scenic practices of the period. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Additional material: 1 videocassette (Koerner Library). / Graduate

This thesis analyzes the organ concertos of George Frideric Handel

George Frederick Handel is one of the most important composers of oratorio in musical history. Between the year 1704, when he composed his Passion According to Saint John, and 1757, the year of his last oratorio, The Triumph of Time and Truth, Handel composed twenty nine works which have at one time or another been classified as oratorios. Only those works that are considered by all authorities as oratorios and are based on the Old Testament or Jewish history are included in this study. Handel writes solo roles for the tenor voice in all of the sixteen oratorios included in the study with the exception of the revision of Esther and in Deborah. The musical and dramatic function of the tenor solo roles varies with each oratorio. The significance of the tenor roles fluctuates with the dramatic impact of the story related by the oratorio and is completely dictated by it. Handel used all solo voices with concern for the best over all theatrical effect foremost in mind. To place in proper perspective his use of the tenor voice in relation to the other solo voices, such factors as the musical and dramatic importance of the tenor roles, character types portrayed, and the style and ranges of arias, should be considered.