Handel: Largo (from Xerxes) for soprano (descant) recorder and piano Soprano Recorder - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1311260

This piece is probably Handel’s best-known melody, although it began life as an operatic aria. The opera was called Xerxes, sometimes written Serses and pronounced something like “ZERT-sees”. It was commissioned by The King’s Theatre in London and composed by Handel (who had become naturalized British and lived in London at the time) around 1737 and 1738. The opera is loosely based on the real historical figure King Xerxes, who ruled from around 522-486 BC and was the fourth king of the Achaemenid Empire, a vast region that covered most of the present-day Middle East including modern Turkey.

The melody is often known simply as Handel’s Largo (despite being marked “Larghetto” in the musical score) and is the opening aria in the opera. Known by its opening line Ombra mai fu the aria is sung by Xerxes to a plane tree: “Tender and beautiful fronds of my beloved plane tree, let fate smile upon you...”

Although the melody has survived over the years, the opera itself was a complete failure when it was first performed at the King’s Theatre in London’s Haymarket in 1738. The style of the opera was not appreciated by London opera-goers and it generally received poor reviews. The audience may have been confused by the innovative nature of the work because Handel introduced unexpected comic elements into the plot.

This arrangement for soprano (descant) recorder(s) and piano is in G major and uses the lower and middle register of the instrument. It could be used with any number of descant recorders. The lowest note is the D just below the treble staff and the highest note is the G just above the top line. The piano part has been kept as simple as possible.