Handel: the late oratorios
- Course Code: MD816
- Dates: 28/04/25 - 07/07/25
- Time: 10:30 - 12:30
- Taught: Mon, Daytime
- Duration: 9 sessions (over 11 weeks)
- Location: Keeley Street
- Tutor: Edward Breen
Course Code: MD816
Duration: 9 sessions (over 11 weeks)
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
Several of Handel’s more than 20 oratorios have remained in regular performance since his death. In recent years there has been a concerted effort to study and perform his more than 40 operas, several of which have now joined mainstream repertoire in opera houses around the world.
This course focuses on the late oratorios from 1743 onwards and compares them to Handel’s operatic style to trace key differences in dramatic focus and, especially, the role of the chorus. It also considers some of the recent research by leading Handel scholars and contrasts it to older Handelian biography and scholarship.
In the course we will look at some printed musical scores and manuscripts but you do not have to be able to read music notation to enjoy the course, you may choose to follow the libretto (words) instead of the music if you choose. Please note, this course does not consider Messiah.
What will we cover?
-Selected Handel oratorios including: Samson, Judas Maccabaeus, Solomon, Theodora, Jeptha and The Triumph of Time and Truth.
- Handel’s biography with a focus on 1743-1757
- Source readings relevant to the chose repertoire (newspapers, letters etc…)
- Developments in Handel's musical / dramatic style
- The role of the chorus (with reference to Ralphe Locke’s scholarship on musical exoticism)
- Social, political and religious context of Handel's compositions (with reference to scholarship by Ruth Smith).
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Understand the elements of Handelian oratorio
- Relate the oratorios to key developments in English social culture
- Make a more informed assessment of Handel's musical achievements.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
No previous knowledge is required. You need to be able to follow written and verbal instructions and engage in class discussion in English, and to take your own notes.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Tutor presentation, guided listening and watching, class discussion.
Course materials will be shared via Google Classroom, with recommendations to encourage further exploration after the course.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Please have a pen and notebook to make your own notes during class. You may wish to purchase some of the music books or recordings discussed in class; links to these materials will be available after each session. You may also wish to attend live performances.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
City Lit offers a wide range of Music history courses. For more information, visit our Guide to the Music history programme.
Edward teaches music history and music theory at City lit where he is Head of Programme: Advanced Studies in the School of Performing Arts. His specialism is early music (medieval, renaissance and baroque periods) and he completed his PhD in historical musicology at King's College London (2013) on the performance of medieval music. Outside of teaching, Edward is a regular contributor to Gramophone magazine and has lectured for Dartington International Summer School, London's Southbank Centre and The British Library. He has also worked as a researcher for BBC Proms and written for the journal Early Music (OUP). His recent essays are published in: The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Historical Performance in Music, (Cambridge University Press); The Montpellier Codex: Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music 16 (Boydell Press); Recomposing the Past: Representations of Early Music on Stage and Screen (Ashgate 2018); and 30-Second Classical Music (Ivy Press).
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
