Athalia, HWV 52
Oratorio in three parts
by George Frideric Handel
Full Orchestra - Sheet Music

Full orchestra/4 soprano voice solos, alto voice solo, bass voice solo, tenor voice solo (large Orchestra, 4 soprano voice solos, alto voice solo, bass voice solo, tenor voice solo) - Level 4

SKU: BA.BA04082

Oratorio in three parts. Composed by George Frideric Handel. Edited by Stephan Blaut. This edition: complete edition, urtext edition. Linen. Halle Handel Edition (HHA) Serie I, Band 12, No. 1 + Band 12, No. 2. Complete edition, Score. HWV 52. Baerenreiter Verlag #BA04082. Published by Baerenreiter Verlag (BA.BA04082).

ISBN 9790006497751. 33 x 25.8 cm inches. Text Language: English, Italian.

The oratorio “ Athalia ” tells the Old Testament story of the Queen Athalia . Handel composed it in 1733 for Oxford University where it was first performed later that year during the celebrations for the awarding of honorary degrees. The great s uccess of this performance is generally regarded as a reason for Handel’s renewed interest in the oratorio form. As was frequently the case, Handel also carried on composing this work after the first performance. Thus, for the version which was performed in London in 1735, he introduced numbers in Italian for the Italian singer Carestini in the role of Joad . He also ended the work with an organ concerto. For the performance in 1756 he drew on other works for the third act.

Conversely, large parts of the music to Athalia form the basis for other works by Handel such as “ Parnasso in festa ” (HWV 73) and the Wedding Anthem (HWV 262).

The piano reduction by Andreas Köhs , based on the Urtext of the “Halle Handel” Edition, includes the main version of 1733 together with an appendix containing the versions of 1735 and 1756 as well as the outline of a planned version of 1743 which was not performed.

About Barenreiter Urtext