Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/550

538 composed—chiefly at Vienna—a large collection of delightful Oratorios, most of which were adapted to the Poetry of Apostolo Zeno and Metastasio. The most successful of these were 'Tobia,' 'Assalone,' 'Giuseppe,' 'Davidde,' 'La Passione di Gesii Cristo,' 'Daniele,' 'San Pietro a Cesarea,' 'Gesu presentato al Tempio,' 'Gerusalemme convertita,' and most especially 'Sisera,' which, as Zeno himself confesses, owed its reputation entirely to the beauty of the Music. Colonna's style—especially that of his Choruses—was broader and more dignified than Caldara's, and he did much towards raising the Oratorio to the noble level it attained in the 18th century. Leo rose still higher. His Oratorio, 'Santa Elena al Calvario,' is far in advance of the age in which it was written, and contains a Chorus—'Di quanta pena è frutta—which has excited much attention. But in point of natural genius there can be no doubt that Alessandro Stradella excelled all the best writers of this promising though clearly transitional period; and our regret for his untimely death is increased by the certainty that but for this he could scarcely have failed to take a place among the greatest Composers of any age or country. There seems no reason to doubt the veracity of the tradition which represents his first and only Oratorio, 'San Giovanni Battista,' as having been the means of saving his life, by melting the hearts of the ruffians who were sent to assassinate him, on the occasion of its first performance in the Church of S. John Lateran; but whether the story be true or not, the work seems certainly beautiful enough to have produced such an effect. The most probable date assigned to it is 1676; but it differs, in many respects, from the type most in favour at that period. It opens with a Sinfonia, consisting of three short Fugal Movements, followed by a Recitative and Air for S. John. The Accompaniment to some of the Airs is most ingenious, and not a little complicated, comprising two complete Orchestras,—a Concertino, consisting of two Violins and a Violoncello, reinforced, as in Corelli's Concertos, by the two Violins, Viola, and Bass, of a Concerto grosso. These Instruments were frequently made to play in as many real parts as there were Instruments employed; but many of the Songs were accompanied only by a cleverly-constructed Ground-Bass, played con tutti i bassi del concerto grosso. Some of the Choruses, for five Voices, are very finely written, and full of contrivances no less effective than ingenious; but the great merit of the work lies in the refinement of its expression, which far exceeds that exhibited in any contemporary productions with which we are acquainted. This quality is beautifully exemplified in the following Melody, sung by the 'Consigliero.'

To this period also must be referred Handel's Italian Oratorio, 'La Resurrezione'; a composition now almost forgotten, yet deeply interesting as an historical study. We have no means now of ascertaining whether this work was ever publicly performed or not. All that can be discovered respecting it is, that it was composed in the palace of the Marchese di Ruspoli, during Handel's residence in Rome in 1708. There is no evidence to prove whether it was originally intended for representation at the Theatre, or, without action, in a Church; but the dramatic force exhibited in it from beginning to end, far exceeds in intensity anything to be found in the most advanced works of any contemporary Composer. The originality of the Air, 'Ferma l'ali,' sung by S. Maria Maddelena, in which the most tenderly pathetic effect is produced by a 'Pedal-Point' of thirty-nine bars duration is very striking; and still more so is the furious accompaniment to Lucifero's Air, 'O voi dell' Erebo potenze orribili,'—a passage which we find imitated in connection with the Enchantment of Medea, in the Third Act of 'Teseo,' written four years later.