The masque Comus, or There in the Blissful Shades (HWV * 44) is a short version of John Milton's Comus, based on a libretto earlier made by John Dalton for composer Thomas Arne's own Comus. The sixty-year-old Handel composed the setting in 1745 for the pleasure of other guests during his summer recuperation at the country seat of the Earl of Gainsborough. [1] Some of the music was later recycled by Handel, for example as the tenor aria Then will I Jehovah's praise from the Occasional Oratorio. [2]
Recordings
- Alceste & Comus, Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood. ( L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1989) [3]
- Handel at Vauxhall Vol. 2, London Early Opera, Bridget Cunningham ( Signum Records, 2017) [4]
References
- ^ Marian Van Til George Frideric Handel: A Music Lover's Guide to His Life Page 209 2007 -"... turned The piece that Handel composed for their entertainment was There in the Blissful Shades (HWV * 44), a short version of Milton's Comus, based on a libretto by John Dalton for composer Thomas Arne (Burrows, Handel, p. 285, n1)."
- ^ http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk Handel: The Occasional Oratorio - CDA66961/2 libretto notes "The tenor aria 'Then will I Jehovah's praise' also has its origins in another work, the Masque Comus: during his recuperation in the summer of 1745 at the seat of the Earl of Gainsborough Handel contributed a handful of movements to the.."
- ^ Handel, The Academy Of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood - Alceste • Comus, 1989, retrieved 9 June 2023
- ^ "Handel at Vauxhall, Vol.2". Signum Records. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
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