Georg Friedrich Händel
Hercules, HWV 60
based on Sophocles' Women of Trachis and the ninth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses
Georg Friedrich Händel
Hercules, HWV 60
based on Sophocles' Women of Trachis and the ninth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses
- Instrumentation Soloists, Choir and Orchestra
- Composer Georg Friedrich Händel
- Series Kalmus Choral Library
- Editor Friedrich Chrysander
- Lyricist Thomas Broughton
- Edition Score
- Publisher Edwin F. Kalmus
- Order no. K-A262101
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Description:
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) composed the three-act oratorio Hercules, HWV 60 during a four-week period in 1744. Telling the story of the ancient Greek hero Hercules' death through the jealousy of his wife Dejanira, the English libretto by clergyman Thomas Broughton is based on Ovid's Ninth Book of his Metamorphoses and Sophocles' tragedy The Women of Trachis. The premiere was given at King's Theatre in London on January 5th, 1745, as a concert performance. With singers too ill to perform and the complete lack of stage direction, the first run saw only two performances and was unquestionably a failure. The work was reappraised later, however, as a masterpiece and has seen more frequent performances. This 1859 edition by Friedrich Chrysander was released as part of the Deutsche Händelgesellschaft publications in the mid-19th century. The score and parts are abridged, but there are differences between the two, where the score has more movements than the parts, particularly impacting the recitatives. Instrumentation: 0.2.0.0: 0.2.0.0: Timp: Str (2-2-2-1-1 in set): Solo SATB: SSATBB Chor.