Сочинение для сопрано, тенора, баса, смешанного хора, двух блокфлейт, двух гобоев, трёх фаготов, двух валторн, двух труб, литавр, трёх скрипок, двух альтов, виолончели, органа и бассо континуо.... Читать дальше

Сочинение для сопрано, тенора, баса, смешанного хора, двух блокфлейт, двух гобоев, трёх фаготов, двух валторн, двух труб, литавр, трёх скрипок, двух альтов, виолончели, органа и бассо континуо.

В произведении описывается пир, устроенный Александром Македонским и его любовницей Таис в захваченном персидском городе Персеполис, во время которого музыкант Тимофей поет и играет на своей лире, пробуждая у Александра различные настроения, пока его наконец не заставят сжечь город в мести за его мертвых греческих солдат.
Главный герой здесь - музыкант Тимофей. Своей игрой на лире и пением он управляет эмоциями царя: заставляет его радоваться, грустить, жалеть павших и даже бросаться в бой.
Главная идея: Показать, какую огромную силу имеет музыка над душой человека.


Музыка написана на стихи Джона Драйдена. Текст адаптировал либреттист Ньюберг Гамильтон.

Оригинальный вокальный текст

PRIMA
PARTE

1
- OUVERTURE

2
- RECITATIVO (Tenore

'T was at the royal feast,
for Persia won

By Philip's warlike son:

Aloft in awful state

The god-like hero sate

On his imperial throne:

His valiant peers were plac'd around;

Their brows with roses and with myrtles bound.

So should desert in arms be crown'd.

The lovely Thais by his side

Sate like a blooming Eastern bride,

In flow'r of youth, and beauty's pride.

3
- ARIA (Tenore) E CORO

Happy, happy, happy pair!

None but the brave,

None but the brave,

None but the brave deserves the fair.

4
- RECITATIVO (Tenore)

Timotheus plac'd on high,

Amid the tuneful quire,

With flying fingers touch'd the lyre.

The trembling notes ascend the sky,

And heav'nlyjoys inspire

CONCERTO
PER ARPA E ORCHESTRA, op. 4 n. 6 HWV 294

5
- RECITATIVO ACCOMPAGNATO (Soprano)

The song began from Jove,

Who left his blissful seats above;

(Such is the pow'r of mighty love)

A dragon's fiery form bely'd the Cod;

Sublime, on radiant spires he rode,

When he to fair Olympia press'd,

And while he sought her snowy breast:

Then, round her slender waist he curl'd,

And stamp'd an image of himself,

a sov'reign of the world

6
- CORO

The list'ning crowd admire the lofty sound,

"A present deity!" they shout around;

"A present deity!" the vaulted roofs rebound.

7
- ARIA (Soprano)

With ravish'd ears

The monarch hears,

Assumes the God,

Affects to nod,

And seems to shake the spheres.

8
- RECITATIVO (Tenore)

The praise of Bacchus, then, the sweet musician sung;

Of Bacchus, ever fair, and ever young:

The jolly Cod in triumph comes;

Sound the trumpets, beat the drums:

Flush'd with a purple grace,

He shows his honest face;

Now give the hautboys breath; he comes, he comes!

9-ARIA
(Basso) E CORO

Bacchus, ever fair and young,

Drinking joys did first ordain;

Bacchus' blessings are a treasure,

Drinking is the soldier's pleasure:

Rich the treasure,

Sweet the pleasure,

Sweet is pleasure after pain.

Bacchus' blessings are a treasure,

Drinking is the soldier's pleasure:

Rich the treasure,

Sweet the pleasure,

Sweet is pleasure after pain.

10
- RECITATIVO (Tenore)

Sooth'd with the sound, the king grew vain;

Fought all his battles o'er again;

And thrice he routed all his foes,

and thrice he slew the slain!

The master saw the madness rise,

His glowing cheeks, his ardent eyes;

And while he Heav'n and earth defy'd,

Chang'd his hand, and check'd his pride.

11
- RECITATIVO ACCOMPACNATO (Soprano)

He chose a mournful Muse,

Soft pity to infuse.

12
- ARIA (Soprano)

He sung Darius great and good,

By too severe a fate,

Fall'n from his high estate,

And welt'ring in his blood:

Deserted at his utmost need,

By those his former bounty fed,

On the bare earth expos'd he lies,

Without a friend to close his eyes.

13
- RECITATIVO ACCOMPACNATO (Soprano)

With downcast looks the joyless victor sate,

Revolving in his alter'd soul,

The various turns of chance below,

And, now and then, a sigh he stole,

And tears began to flow.

14
- CORO

Behold Darius, great and good,

Fall'n, fall'n, fall'n, fall'n, welt'ring in his blood;

On the bare earth expos'd he lies,

Without a friend to close his eyes.

15
- RECITATIVO (Tenore)

The mighty master smil'd to see

That love was in the next degree

Twas but a kindred sound to move,

For pity melts the mind to love:

16
- ARIOSO (Soprano)

Softly sweet, in Lydian measures,

Soon he sooth'd his soul to pleasures.

17
- ARIA (Soprano)

War, he sung, is toil and trouble,

Honour but an empty bubble,

Never ending, still beginning,

Fighting still, and still destroying.

If the world be worth thy winning,

Think, oh think it worth enjoying,

Lovely Thais sits beside thee,

Take the good the Gods provide thee.

War he sung... (da capo)

18a
- CORO

The many rend the skies,

with loud applause;

So love was crown'd,

but music won the cause.

19
- ARIA (Soprano)

The Prince, unable to conceal his pain,

Gaz'd on the fair,

Who caus'd his care;

And sigh'd and look'd, sigh'd and look'd,

Sigh'd and look'd, and sigh'd again:

At length with love and wine at once oppress'd,

The vanquish'd victor sunk upon her breast.

The Prince... (da capo)

18b
- CORO

The many rend the skies,

with loud applause;

So love was crown'd,

but music won the cause.

SECONDA
PARTE

20.
RECITATIVO ACCOMPACNATO (Tenore) E CORO

Now strike the golden lyre
again,

A louder yet - and yet a louder strain!

Break his bands of sleep asunder,

And rouse him, like a rattling peal of thunder.

Break his bands of sleep asunder,

And rouse him, like a rattling peal of thunder.

Hark, hark! - the horrid sound

Has rais'd up his head,

As awak'd from the dead,

And amaz'd, he stares around.

21
- ARIA (Basso)

Revenge, revenge, Timotheus cries,

See the furies arise,

See the snakes that they rear,

How they hiss in their hair,

And the sparkles that flash from their eyes!

Behold a ghastly band,

Each a torch in his hand!

Those are Grecian ghosts,

that in battle were slain,

And unbury'd, remain

Inglorious on the plain.

Revenge... (da capo)

22
- RECITATIVO ACCOMPAGNATO (Tenore)

Give the vengeance due

To the valiant crew:

Behold how they toss their torches on high,

How they point to the Persian abodes,

And glitt'ring temples of their hostile gods!

23
- ARIA (Tenore)

The princes applaud with a furious joy;

And the king seiz'd a flambeau, with zeal to destroy.

24
- ARIA (Soprano) E CORO

Thais led the way,

To light him to his prey;

And like another Helen, fir'd another Troy.

The princes applaud with a furious joy;

And the king seiz'd a flambeau, with zeal to destroy.

25
- RECITATIVO ACCOMPAGNATO (Tenore) E CORO

Thus long ago,

Ere heaving bellows learn'd to blow,

While organs yet were mute,

Timotheus to his breathing flute,

And sounding lyre,

Could swell the soul to rage, or kindle soft desire.

At last divine Cecilia came,

Inventress of the vocai frame;

The sweet enthusiasts from her sacred store,

Enlarg'd the former narrow bounds,

And added length to solemn sounds,

With Nature's mother-wit, and arts unknown before.

26
- RECITATIVO (Tenore, Basso)

Let old Timotheus yield the prize,

Or both divide the crown;

He rais'd a mortal to the skies,

She drew an angel down.

27.
CORO

Let old Timotheus yield the prize,

Or both divide the crown;

He rais'd a mortal to the skies,

She drew an angel down.

CONCERTO
PER ORGANO E ORCHESTRA, op. 4 n. 1 HWV 289

28
- CORO

Your voices tune, and raise them high

Till th'echo from the vaulted sky

The blest Cecilia's name;

Music to Heav'n and her we owe,

The greatest blessing that's below;

Sound loudly then her fame:

Let's imitate her notes above,

And may this evening ever prove,

Sacred to harmony and love.

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