Alexander's Feast

Alexander’s Feast⁠ was an instant hit with the public in 1736. Neither opera nor oratorio, it is a setting of John Dryden’s ode for St. Cecilia’s Day (1697). There’s no plot as such, but the overarching theme is the power of music, as wielded by the musician Timotheus, who evokes the emotions of Alexander the Great during a great banquet held to celebrate his conquest of Persia. The ode ends with a comparison between Timotheus’ power over Alexander, and the influence of St. Cecilia⁠, the patron saint of music, who brought song to all mortals. The main challenge for Handel was conjuring up the vividly contrasting emotions and imagery of Dryden’s text. He began with a colourful musical palette: four soloists, a chorus singing in as many as eight parts and a vibrant orchestra, featuring trumpets, horns, recorders, oboes and bassoons. He paints the changing moods atmospherically, especially in the famous aria “Revenge, Timotheus Cries”, which begins as a stirring trumpet-and-drum call to arms but suddenly shifts gear as Timotheus summons up the ghosts of the slain Greek warriors with eerie low strings and bassoons to rouse Alexander to vengeance. The work wasn’t long enough to provide a whole evening’s entertainment, so Handel added a harp concerto to imitate Timotheus playing his lyre, and an organ concerto illustrating St. Cecilia’s own instrument.