I became interested in Handel's oratorio Susanna because of the painting "Susanna and the Elders" by Artemisia Gentileschi. Although I have written about it before, I think it is only right to include Susanna also in this list of great choral masterworks.
The story of Susanna is included in the Book of Daniel, although in the Protestant tradition it is considered as an apocryphal chapter in that book. It is set during the captivity of the Jewish tribes in Babylon.
Susanna, a fair Hebrew wife (whose husband is apparently temporarily away from home), was secretly desired by two Elders of the community, who plotted together to seduce her. When Suzanna took a bath in her garden, having sent her attendants away, the lecherous voyeurs hid themselves and secretly observed her. When she made her way back to her house, they emerged and threatened that, unless she gave in to their desires and had sex with them, they would publicly accuse her of adultery - the penalty for which was death. But Suzanna spurned their vile proposal and refused to be blackmailed. The "pious" Elders duly made their false accusation, claiming that they had caught Suzanna while she was having a tryst with a young man in her garden. Suzanna was charged and condemned to die, but at the last minute the youthful Daniel - the future prophet - interrupted the proceedings, demanding that the Elders should be questioned to prevent the death of an innocent. The two men were separately questioned about the details of what they saw - and they disagreed about the sort of tree under which Susanna supposedly met her lover. Thus Susanna's innocence was established and instead the false accusers were put to death.
The above paragraph has been cited from my blog article on the painting "Susanna and the Elders" by Artemisia Gentileschi. Susanna's story became the subject of paintings by many artists, including Lorenzo Lotto, Guido Reni, Rubens, Van Dyck, Tintoretto, Rembrandt and Tiepolo. Handel is the only composer who wrote music on this subject. That was in the summer of 1748 and the work was premiered the next season at Covent Garden Theater, London.
After a series of patriotic oratorios celebrating victory in the Jacobite rebellions, including Judas Maccabaeus and Joshua, Handel turned to a lighter style with Susanna. The oratorio is scored for a small orchestra of strings with oboes and bassoons, with trumpets appearing only at the end of the work. Some of the solo vocal pieces are in the simple style of popular English ballad opera. There are touches of comedy in Handel's musical characterizations of the lecherous Elders, while the steadfastness, purity and courage of the heroine Susanna are vividly portrayed. The aria "Crystal streams", sung by Susanna while she longs for her absent husband and seeks relief from the summer heat by bathing in a garden stream, is in particular notable.
Here is a great performance by Les Arts Florisants, conducted by W. Christie. The complete libretto is hosted at Stanford University.
Choral Masterworks