I love Handel's music, and this time my attention was drawn to the ode "Alexander's Feast" - I knew the title thanks to the "Concerto in Alexander's Feast" which was written to be played between the two parts of the ode, but I had never had the opportunity to hear the complete music. The composition was based on John Dryden's ode "Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music", which was written to celebrate St. Cecilia's Day. Handel composed the music in 1736. It is "typical" Handel, with colorful arias, choirs and instrumental passages, a wonderful work that will make you think: "Why didn't I know this earlier?"
The seven-verse poem Alexander's Feast; or, the Power of Music (A song
in honor of St. Cecilia's day) was written by John Dryden in 1692. Dryden sings of a feast given by Alexander the
Great in the conquered city of Persepolis after his victory in 330 BCE.
Newburgh Hamilton
is named as the actual librettist, but his contribution was
essentially limited to dividing the poem into recitatives, arias and
choruses. Look here for a copy of the libretto.
Handel probably began composing the music in late 1735. He completed the first part on January 5, 1736, the second part on January 12, and made a few more changes in the following days. The first performance took place on February 19, 1736 at the Covent Garden Theatre before an audience of at least 1,300. Another performance took place on February 25 in the presence of the entire Court, and again on March 3, 12 and 17 of the same year. The work was a great success, so much so that - a rare occurrence for this type of composition - it was edited and published two years later by John Walsh. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart orchestrated it anew (K. 591) in 1789, and his version became the standard in the
German-speaking world during the 19th century (happily, the 20th c. returned to Handel's original!).
Handel revised the music for further performances in 1739, 1742, 1751. Composed at a time when Italian opera was losing ground in England, this work, which includes choruses that are largely absent from opera and whose words are in English, marks Handel's move into a new genre, the English oratorio, which would soon dominate his vocal output.
The work exalts the power of music by evoking an event reported by Plutarch: the destruction of Persepolis by Alexander the Great. After the conquest of the Achaemenid capital, Alexander and the beautiful Athenian courtesan Thais participate in a banquet during which Alexander's bard Timotheus sings and plays the lyre. Timotheus praises Alexander, manipulating his emotions. First Timotheus glorifies him as a god, puffing up Alexander's pride. He then sings of the pleasures of wine, encouraging Alexander to drink. Seeing Alexander becoming too boisterous, he next sings of the sad death of the Persian king Darius - and Alexander becomes quiet. Timoteus then lauds the beauty of Thais, Alexander's lover, making the king's heart melt. Finally, he encourages feelings of anger and vengeance, causing Thais and Alexander to give the order to burn down the Persian palace in revenge for Persia's previous outrages against Greece.
Happily, this act of destruction is not how it ends: at the end of the ode, Dryden evocates Saint Cecilia, who brings harmony to the world. Saint Cecilia, "inventress of the vocal frame", is traditionally supposed to have created the first organ and to have instituted Christian sacred music. The poem concludes that while Timotheus "Raised a mortal to the skies, / She (Saint Cecilia) drew an angel down". However, this positive message seems a bit far-fetched after the violence that has gone on immediately before...
Alexander's Feast contains three concertos:
- a concerto in B-flat Major for harp, lute, or other instrument, HWV 294; this concerto is set after a recitative of Timothy at the beginning of the first part;
- a concerto grosso in C major, HWV 318, often identified as the Alexander's Feast Concerto, which is played between the two parts of the ode (is is also often skipped, as in the performance below);
- finally, a concerto in G minor for organ, oboe, bassoon and string orchestra HWV 289, to be performed after the chorus "Let old Timotheus the prize," towards the end of the second part.
The above two concertos were included in Handel's Opus 4 published by John Walsh in 1739, which includes six concertos for organ and orchestra (the concerto HWV 294 in a transcription for organ of the harp score).
The piece was a great success - during Handel's lifetime and after, Alexander's Feast was one of his most popular works.
Listen to the Radio Kamer Filharmonie and Groot Omroepkoor conducted by Kenneth Montgomery in a recording by the Dutch television:
Choral Masterworks