Samson (Handel)
Samson, Judge of Israel, married a Philistine woman, Delilah, who discovered that he derived his supernatural strength from never cutting his hair.Since it was a festival day in honour of the Philistine god Dagon Samson was allowed to come out of his prison cell, albeit in chains, and received visitors.He spent the years 1717 to 1719 as composer in residence to the wealthy Duke of Chandos, where he wrote church anthems and two stage works, Acis and Galatea and Esther.He composed vocal music to English words for various royal occasions, including a set of Coronation anthems for George II in 1727, which made a huge impact.[3] In 1731, a performance of the 1718 version of Esther, a work in English based on a Biblical drama by Jean Racine, was given in London without Handel's participation and proved to be popular.However, the Bishop of London would not permit a drama based on a Biblical story to be acted out on the stage; Handel therefore presented Esther in concert form, thus giving birth to the English oratorio.[5] Samson is richly orchestrated by the standards of its day, calling for strings, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two flutes, two trumpets, timpani and continuo instruments.
OratorioGeorge Frideric HandelBaroque periodCovent GardenJohn BeardCatherine CliveSusannah Maria CibberWilliam SavageHenry ReinholdChristina Maria AvoglioThomas LoweconcertMessiahlibrettoNewburgh HamiltonMiltonSamson AgonistesSamsonBook of JudgesDublinpremiereLondonsopranocontraltoPhilistineAnnibale CarracciDuke of ChandosAcis and GalateaEstherCoronation anthemsGeorge IIJean RacineBishop of LondonDeborahAthaliaDeidamiacontinuo instrumentsJan PeercePhyllis CurtinMaurice AbravanelUtah Symphony OrchestraAlexander SchreinerUniversity of UtahVanguard ClassicsAlexander YoungMartina ArroyoNorma ProcterEzio FlagelloThomas StewartHelen DonathKarl RichterMünchener Bach-OrchesterMünchener Bach-ChorArchivRobert TearJanet BakerHelen WattsBenjamin LuxonJohn Shirley-QuirkRaymond LeppardEnglish Chamber OrchestraLondon VoicesTerry EdwardsAnthony Rolfe JohnsonRoberta AlexanderJochen KowalskiAlastair MilesAnton ScharingerNikolaus HarnoncourtConcentus musicus WienArnold Schoenberg ChorTeldecLynne DawsonHarry ChristophersThe SixteenSophie BevanJohn ButtDunedin ConsortTiffin Boys' ChoirLinn RecordsLawrence ZazzoLeonardo García AlarcónChœur de chambre de NamurRicercar RecordsWinton DeanHans Joachim MarxHicks, AnthonyGrove Music OnlineOxford University PressInternational Music Score Library ProjectFriedrich ChrysanderCulturaldepictionsSamson Slaying a PhilistineSamson and DelilahSamson Threatening His Father-In-LawThe Blinding of SamsonThe Wedding Feast of SamsonSamson MockedDoc SamsonMighty SamsonAaj Ka SamsonSam and DelilahDelilahSamson & GoliathManoahManoah's wifeHazzelelponiSamson's riddleRabbinic literatureRock of EtamSamson OptionSamson UnitSamson coat of armsThe Modern SamsonList of operasList of compositionsHandel's lost Hamburg operasFlorindoDaphneAlmiraRodrigoAgrippinaRinaldoIl pastor fidoAmadigi di GaulaRadamisto