Judas Maccabæus - G. F. Handel

Spring 2003 Concert

Tina Johns Heidrich, Conductor
Joe Jacovino, Accompanist
Connecticut Master Chorale Orchestra

Saturday May 17, 2003 - 8:00pm
St. Rose of Lima Church, Newtown, Connecticut

- Soloists - Review -

Judas Maccabæus – George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
1685-1759

G.F. Handel was the master of oratorio writing. While Messiah is his most dramatic and popular one, he composed several outstanding oratorios with biblical and religious themes – among them Samson, Saul (1739), and Judas Maccabæus (1746).

Judas Maccabæus celebrates the victories of the ancient Jewish loyalists, led by Judas Maccabæus, over Antiochus, the King of Syria. The work is written in three acts - each act being well structured for musical purposes and the many contrasts of key, mood, tempo and texture providing all the variety needed to hold the listener’s interest. The text and story taken are taken from the Bible – "First Book of Maccabees."

Judas Maccabæus was very well received at its first performance in 1747, as it was for all of Handel’s performances of it through 1759. Unlike several of his other dramatic oratorios, this grand work remained popular throughout the Victorian era and continues to enjoy enormous popularity to this day. One of its themes, "See the Conquering Hero Comes," has been adopted by Jews as a veritable Hanukkah melody, and also by Christians as the resurrection hymn "Thine Is the Glory." The truth be told, though, it did not appear in the original version of Judas Maccabæus, but was grafted subsequently from Handel's later oratorio Joshua.

Judas Maccabæus, with its magisterial strains is a triumphant oratorio, as befits the circumstances that gave rise to it. It is surely among Handel's finest works and an excellent example of this composer’s musical genius.