Handel, George Frideric : Occasional Oratorio

The ìOccasional Oratorioî was composed as a reaction to a political event which shook the whole of England : the Jacobite rebellion of 1745-46 against the Hanoverian monarchy was crushed under the leadership of the Duke of Cumberland. Handel, who was working on the oratorio ì Judas Maccabaeusî at the time, composed the oratorio quickly and reused some movements from earlier works. With the choice of a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton he demonstrated his support for the monarchy. The work was first performed on 14 February 1746 at the Covent Garden Theatre in London .

For the first time this seldomly performed oratorio which nevertheless contains wonderful music is available in an Urtext edition based on the ì Halle Handel Editionî . All available sources have been consulted. Further movements which Handel added for later performances are included in the appendix.

– First scholarly-critical edition based on the Urtext of the ì Halle Handel Editionî
– Idiomatic, playable piano reduction
– Foreword (Ger/Eng)