English oratorio after Handel

The history of English oratorio during the late eighteenth century is often summed up as a mere post-Handelian period, the only major event worth noting during this time being the famous Handel Commemoration of 1784. The fact that the tradition of annual Lenten oratorio performances created by Handel was continued without a break from 1760 until well beyond the turn of the century seems to have escaped general notice. Handel's most popular oratorios, among them Messiah, Samson and Judas Maccabaeus, featured prominently in the programmes of the major London theatres. Also, between 1760 and 1800 about fifty new oratorios were composed for and performed at the London series.
English oratorio after Handel: the London oratorio series and its repertory, 1760 - 1800 offers a detailed historical account of the circumstances surrounding the oratorio performances, i.e. the annual Lenten oratorio series at the London theatres as well as a survey of the new late eighteenth-century repertory. The extensive appendices include a complete list of all oratorio performances at the London theatres from 1760 to 1800 with vocal and instrumental soloists as well as a list of manuscript scores and contemporary editions. The authorEva Zöllner took her PhD at the University of Hamburg in 1998. A contributor to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians II and The New Dictionary of National Biography, her publications include articles on Thomas Augustine Arne and John Christopher Smith the younger, as well as on German musicians active in London during the eighteenth century.

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The history of English oratorio during the late eighteenth century is often summed up as a mere post-Handelian period, the only major event worth noting during this time being the famous Handel Commemoration of 1784. The fact that the tradition of annual Lenten oratorio performances created by Handel was continued without a break from 1760 until well beyond the turn of the century seems to have escaped general notice. Handel's most popular oratorios, among them Messiah, Samson and Judas Maccabaeus, featured prominently in the programmes of the major London theatres. Also, between 1760 and 1800 about fifty new oratorios were composed for and performed at the London series.
English oratorio after Handel: the London oratorio series and its repertory, 1760-1800 offers a detailed historical account of the circumstances surrounding the oratorio performances, i.e. the annual Lenten oratorio series at the London theatres as well as a survey of the new late eighteenth-century repertory.
The extensive appendices include a complete list of all oratorio performances at the London theatres from 1760 to 1800 with vocal and instrumental soloists as well as a list of manuscript scores and contemporary editions.
The author
Eva Zöllner took her PhD at the University of Hamburg in 1998. A contributor to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians II and The New Dictionary of National Biography, her publications include articles on Thomas Augustine Arne and John Christopher Smith the younger, as well as on German musicians active in London during the eighteenth century.