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Purcell, Handel and the oratorio
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Genre
Purcell, Handel and the oratorio · In London, English and Italian music came together. Around 1689, Henry Purcell wrote Dido and Aeneas, a short opera that ends with Dido's lament over a constantly repeated bass line. The German George Frideric Handel settled in London in 1712 and composed Italian operas and the Water Music for a boat trip of King George I. When opera went out of fashion, he wrote English oratorios; Messiah premiered in Dublin in 1742.
Listening
Listening tip. In Dido's Lament, hear how the same descending bass line keeps returning while the voice sings freely above it.
Dido and Aeneas: When I am laid in earth (Susan Graham, Le Concert d'Astrée) · Henry Purcell, 1689
Messiah: Hallelujah (Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner) · Georg Friedrich Händel, 1741
Water Music: Alla Hornpipe (Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall) · Georg Friedrich Händel, 1717
See also
Categories: Genres