Esther, by George Frideric Handel

The music of George Frideric Handel has been celebrated throughout time, especially his oratorio work. Handel’s oratorios are considered to be some of the best in existence. However, much discussion and reverence is given to his Messiah, while the others are not as commonly subject to this praise. Therefore, I will investigate the origin and creation of the oratorio, Esther by Handel, with focus on his music for the scene. I will argue that Handel expresses the drama and emotion of this biblical story through the musical elements he employs, particularily

Before I begin discussing Esther at length, I will provide information on the definition of oratorio, the origins of Handel, and a basic description of Handel’s most familiar work, Messiah. Oratorio was derived from the form of opera as a way to continue a narrative form of music throughout the Lenten season when the performance of opera is usually forbidden. An oratorio is a biblical drama with no costumes or staging. It employs the use of the same themes of opera such as recitative and aria, sometimes exploring a larger use of chorus.

Handel became a proficient composer of oratorio in part to his early success in composing opera. To elaborate on the histological influences on Handel, his career and education path must be noted. Born in Halle, Germany in 1685, Handel began his career in music as an organist, studying under Friedrich Zachow, one of the most renowned organists of his time. In 1702, he began attending the University of Halle while taking on the position as Organist at Calvinist church, Domkirche. After only a year, he tired of this and decided to travel to Hamburg to study opera. To support this endeavor, while in Hamburg, he played in orchestras as a harpsich...

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...se of Esther’s father and the punishment of Haman. Haman recants in his next aria about how far he has fallen, and again employs the same mournful music to demonstrate the sadness. This aria uses a falling contour as word painting to show this falling from power.

The oratorio Esther uses a combination of musical techniques to portray the action occurring in this highly dramatic plot. The uses of contour, melisma, instrumental accompaniment, and sequence create a kind of word painting that accentuates both the emotional qualities of the songs and what the songs are actually about. The significance of these musical characteristics shows the implementation of Handel’s techniques in underlining important parts of a work and creating commonality. While not obtaining the fame of Messiah, these attributes relate this work to the compositional finesse of a work by Handel.