Also i would like to know if where er you walk is it considered a aria or a oratorio
2007-12-23 08:06:37 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music ➔ Classical
"Semele" was written in English, and is based on the 1707 libretto by the same name written by John Eccles, which in turn was based on a tale from Greek mythology. It was Handel's last opera, written in 1744, and it was originally performed as though it were an oratorio.
Handel's best-known oratorio is "The Messiah."
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. An oratorio has a central theme or idea, but is not played out with interaction between characters, as in an opera or play.
An aria is a usually solo in an opera, but a solo is an oratorio may also be called an aria.
2007-12-23 08:52:29 · answer #1 · answered by rkeech 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Semele
George Frideric Handel. Opera in three acts. 1743.
Libretto by William Congreve, after Ovid's Metamorphoses.
First concert performance at Covent Garden, London, on 10th February 1744.
In English
Handel's setting was intended for concert performance, although it has, since his time, been staged. It was written at a period when Handel was increasingly involved in English oratorio and like other such works it makes considerable use of the chorus, an important element of the newly developed form. To contemporaries Semele seemed neither one thing nor the other. It contains music of great beauty, with Jupiter's Arcadian "Where'er you walk" among the best known of all Handel arias.
HANDEL, George Frideric (1685-1759)
Semele (Abridged Concert Version).
Pub. Kalmus/Alfred
6876 vocal score SATB with SSAATTBBB Soli (English) $22.95
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Semele (Complete Oratorio).
Pub.Classical Vocal Reprints
large score with piano reduction (English) $45.00
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Novello and Oxford publications POP or on rental
2007-12-23 08:53:34 · answer #2 · answered by MusikFind1 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just a note for kreech:
It's a common mistake to refer to 'The Messiah' by Handel but there is NO definite article in the title. It is simply 'Messiah'.
2007-12-23 23:27:31 · answer #3 · answered by del_icious_manager 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yep - in English :)
2007-12-23 14:49:22 · answer #4 · answered by Amy L 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋