In the shadow of Handel: English oratorio in the later eighteenth century

Abstract

This thesis investigates the relationship between Handel's oratorios and those composed in England during the second half of the eighteenth century. The study is prefaced by an examination of the political and cultural changes that made music a public commodity and London one of the most dynamic musical centres in the world. The rise of the public concert and the activities of Handel are also considered. The bulk of the thesis is occupied with case studies of four oratorios. The works cover the years from just before Handel's death (John Stanley's Jephtha) to the turn of the century (Samuel Arnold's The Hymn of Adam and Eve), a period which straddles London's 1784 Handel Commemoration (as do Philip Hayes' Prophecy and John Callcott's Elijah). The case studies present the works in the context of developments in concert-life and offer stylistic analyses of representative movements. The works are then considered in the light of these analyses and Handel's contribution to the genre.