L'Allegro, il Pensieroso ed il Moderato (
HWV 55) is a pastoral ode by
George Frideric Handel based on the poetry of
John Milton. Handel composed the work over the period of
19 January to
4 February 1740, and the work was premiered on
27 February 1740 at the Royal Theatre of Lincoln's Inn Fields. One of Handel's librettists,
Charles Jennens, arranged Milton's two poems,
L'Allegro and
il Penseroso, interleaving them to create dramatic tension between the personified characters of Milton's poems (L'Allegro or the "Joyful man" and il Pensieroso or the "Contemplative man"). The first two movements consist of this dramatic dialog between Milton's poems. In an attempt to unite the two poems into a singular "moral design", Jennens added a new poem, "il Moderato", to create a third movement.
Michael O'Connell and John Powell have published an analysis of Handel's setting of the text in his musical treatment.
Dramatis Personae
- L'Allegro (tenor)
- Il Pensieroso (soprano)
- Il Moderato (bass)
- Chorus
References
External links
