Handel's Oratorios and Eighteenth-Century Thought

ISBN-13: 9780521402651 / Angielski / Twarda / 1995 / 500 str.

Ruth Smith

Opis

In this wide-ranging and challenging book, Ruth Smith shows that the words of Handel's oratorios reflect the events and ideas of their time and have far greater meaning than has hitherto been realized. She sheds new light on the oratorio librettists and explores literature, music, aesthetics, politics and religion to reveal Handel's texts as conduits for eighteenth-century thought and sensibility. This book enriches our understanding of Handel, his times, and the relationships between music and its intellectual contexts.

Recenzje

'… highly interesting and suggestive book.' British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies

Spis treści

Introduction; Part I. English Origins of English Oratario: 1. Artistic norms; 2. The purpose of art; 3. Music, morals and religion; 4. The biblical sublime; 5. The survival of the epic; 6. The defence of Christianity; 7. Towards oratorio; Part II. The Patriot Libretto from the Excise Bill to the Jew Bill: Israelite Oratarios and English Politics: 8. Political events and political thought; 9. Allegorical politics; 10. Moral politics; 11. Esther to Athalia; 12. In time of war; 13. Images of government; 14. The conflict of public and private interests; 15. Coda: the end of Handel's Israelite oratorios; Appendices; Notes; Index.