more fortune to Handel than all the rest of his works together. After thirty-five years of continuous struggle, plot and counterplot, he had at last obtained a decisive victory. He became by the force of events the national musician of England.
. . . . . .
Freed from material cares, which had embittered his life,[1] Handel took up the work of his composition again, with more tranquillity, and in the following years came many of his happiest works. Alexander Balus (June 1 to July 4, 1747)[2] is, like Semele, a concert opera, well developed; the orchestration being exceptionally rich and subtle. Joshua (July 30 to August 18, 1747)[3] is a somewhat pale replica of Judas Maccabæus. A gentle love idyll blossoms amidst the pompous choruses. Solomon (June, 1748)[4] is a musical festival, radiating poetry and gladness. Susanna (July 11, 1724, to August,
- ↑ After 1747 Handel, abandoning his system of subscriptions, turned his back on his aristocratic clientèle, which had treated him so shamefully, and opened his theatre to all. It paid him. The middle classes of London responded to his appeal. After 1748 Handel had full houses at nearly all his concerts.
- ↑ Poem founded on the book of Maccabees by Thomas Morell. The first performance March 23, 1748.
- ↑ Poem by Thomas Morell, first performances March 9, 1748.
- ↑ The poem, apparently, by Thomas Morell, notwithstanding its want of mention in his notes. First performance March 17, 1749.
