word-books for Handel's performances of Samson, The

Musical Times, Spring 2005 by Burrows, Donald

Throughout the revivals, however, the general scheme of Handel's 'short' version of Samson remained recognisable: some movements were always performed, some were never performed, and a few were included (in various versions) from time to time. Any edition of Samson should obviously provide the music for the grand scheme that was Handel's first performing version of the oratorio, but there is no reason to regard the alternative scheme simply as a poor relation. As the word-books show, he used this shorter version as the basis for about two-thirds of the 30 performances of Samson for which he was responsible, and accordingly it will also be presented, with the relevant variants, in the new edition. In this, there is a coherent, though more modest, version of the oratorio which is based on Handel's own practice. Performing groups who cannot command the resources to match Handel's raft of 'goddesses from the farces and singers of roast beef will now nevertheless be able to perform Samson in an authoritative form, and without the limitations imposed by Prout's version.

1. See Donald Burrows: 'Some aspects of the influence of Handel's music on the English musician Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900)', in HändelJahrbuch 44 Jg. (1998), pp.154-55, 164.

2. The performance time for Handel's first (1743) version of Samson (without any intervals) runs to more than three hours of music.

3. Winton Dean: Handel's dramatic oratorios and masques (London, 1959), p-357; Dean also gave an extended critique of Chrysander's edition for the Handelgesellschaft (ibid., PP-357-59).

4. Handel's dramatic oratorios and masques, chapter 15 (pp.326-64), especially pp.359-60.

5. Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library, University of California, Berkeley, ML49.A2.H16 Case X.

6. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California, MS LA38; coverpage signed by John Rich (patentee and manager of Covent Garden theatre) and Handel, dated 10 January 1743.

7. The additional passages of text were indicated in the word-books, and on the manuscript libretto, by inverted commas in the left margins.

8. Some of the same decorations are also found in the word-books published by Watts & Dod, indicating that a single printing-house was employed by both publishers.

9. At some stage during 1743-44 Handel set the opening text of 'Let the bright seraphims" as a (very) short chorus, but evidence from the performing score of Samson shows that this was used to introduce 'Let their celestial concerts all unite' when the soprano soloist did not sing the second section of the air ('Let the cherubic host'): it seems that the chorus was nevertheless preceded by the opening section of the air to the same text.

10. Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Carl von Ossietzky M A/1048 (3 vols.)

11. Handel's dramatic oratorios and masques, pp. 359-60.

12. This is suggested by, for example, his inclusion of trombones in the score of the Dead March: by the time Handel returned from Dublin in 1742 the players had probably already left London, and Handel never performed his original march.