Oratorio in three parts-Israel in Egypt HWV 54Oratorio in three partsThe versions of the 1739 and 1756?7 performancesThe distinguishing feature of our new edition is that it reproduces Israel in Egypt in its complete three-part form: The Lamentation of the Israelites for the Death of Joseph Exodus and Moses? Song. It was in this form that the work was given at its London premiere on 4 April 1739.…

Handel originally wrote Israel in Egypt in the late 1730s but this the well-known version was not written until twenty years later when he discarded the old one as out-of-date. The 'new' version is a two-act oratorio where the chorus is far more prominent and serves much greater variety of expressive purposes than one finds almost anywhere else in Handel's output. Notably there is extensive …

A sacred oratorio written in 1738 arranged for SSATBB edited and the piano accompaniment arranged by Mendelssohn.

Oratorio in three acts-Saul was given its first performance under Handel’s direction at the Haymarket Theatre London on 16 January 1739. The original libretto (dated 1738) refers to the work as “an Oratorio or Sacred Drama”. This libretto was written by Charles Jennens (1700–1770) a wealthy amateur writer from Gopsall Leicestershire. A letter of 28 July 1735 from Handel…

from Israel in Egypt-From the Handel oratorio Israel in Egypt this lovely pastorale movement for four-part mixed voices in a new performing edition draws the comparison of the shepherd and his sheep and the exodus of the people leaving Egypt painting a descriptive picture through the imitative structure of the music. Duration: ca. 4:35.

The Peter Aston Editorial Library prides itself in introducing otherwise unknown English works. From Handel's Israel in Egypt comes this too often overlooked classic.

/ Divers