George Frederic Handel’s La Resurrezione: its genesis, dramatic structure, characterization and influence on his later works

The oratorio, La Resurrezione (1708) is considered by many to represent the summary of George Frederic Handel's Italian compositions. This achievement would not have been realized without the support of Handel's young and ambitious Roman patron, Francesco Ruspoli. The money and effort that Ruspoli spent on the staging of this oratorio confirm that it was planned as the climax for the Easter musical festivities in 1708. The preliminary chapters of this thesis present the background to the presentation of La Resurrezione and include discussions on Handel's presence in Rome, his relationship with Ruspoli, the role of the Accademia dell' Arcadia, and a biography of Carlo Capece, the librettist of the oratorio. Musical issues relating to the oratorio are discussed in chapter four. These include: manuscript sources, the performers of the work, and Handel's musical response to Capece's libretto. The use of a buffo bass (and the notion of Lucifer as a comic character) is traced back to the mid-seventeenth-century. The focus of chapter five is on the music of La Resurrezione, and on examples of Handel's subsequent re-use of the music. As well, the stimuli that prompted Handel to refer to a particular borrowing source are examined. Often a similar dramatic situation prompted Handel's recollection of a previous source; at other times a comparable textual affect, a similar phrase or even a single word in common provided the stimulus for borrowing. The five borrowing groupings discussed in the chapter are chosen because they represent the various means that prompted Handel's recollection of a previous source. Each grouping is organized by an appropriate term which reinforces the argument that it is a textual word, phrase or affect that is the key to understanding the borrowings. A consideration of the borrowings highlights Handel's great talent for portraying people and varying dramatic situations.Arts, Faculty ofMusic, School ofGraduat