or the enemy-people and the God who guided them. It is remarkable that in his very first oratorio Esther, Handel had this stroke of genius. In the choruses there we see the drama of an oppressed people and their God who led them by his voice suberbly depicted. In Deborah and Athaliah also, two nations are in evidence. In Belshazzar there are three, but in his chief work of this kind, Israel in Egypt, the greatest choral epic which exists, is entirely occupied by Jehovah and His people.
The choruses are in the most diverse styles. Some are in the church style, and a little antiquated;[1] others tend towards the opera—even the opéra bouffe;[2] some exhale the perfume of the madrigals at the end of the sixteenth century,[3] and the Academy of Ancient Music in London sought to sustain this art in honour. On the other hand, Handel has frequently used them in the form of a chorale, simple or varied,[4] above all, he employs the choral double fugue in a most astounding manner,[5] and he carries everything on with that impetuosity of genius which drew to him the admiration of the sternest critics of his time, such as Mattheson. His instinct as a great constructor loved to alternate homophonic music with fugal choruses,[6] the massive columns of musical harmony with the moving contrapuntal in superimposed strata, very cleverly
