Acis and Galatea, the timeless myth from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, inspired George Frideric Handel to compose three magnificent music-dramatic works. The serenata HWV 49b, still relatively unknown, offers many possibilities for performance.
The dramatic cantata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (HWV 72, 1708) and especially the masque Acis and Galatea (HWV 49a, 1718) are now well-known. However, the third version of the plot, the serenata Acis and Galatea of 1732 (HWV 49b) is almost completely unknown, as the work only survives in fragmentary form. This version is now being published for the first time in a fully-edited form as part of the Halle Handel Edition.
As a result, this version, HWV 49b, with all its distinctive features, represents a special case not only amongst Handel’s Acis and Galatea settings, but within his output as a whole.
Admittedly, it is not a completely newly-composed work, but a mixture of the two preceding versions which was supplemented by the addition of pieces taken from operas, oratorios and cantatas. Yet the work, superficially regarded merely as a pasticcio, is far more than just the sum of its parts. In terms of form and extent, it stands somewhere between opera and oratorio; Handel himself described this version as a “serenata” and evidence survives that he performed it semi-staged, that is with costumes, props and scenery, but with no theatrical stage action. In principle, a fully staged performance or a purely concert performance is entirely possible.
The specific circumstances of composition of this late version of Acis and Galatea resulted in a work which is without equal in Handel’s output in terms of richness of musical form and magnificence of tone colour. Half-a-dozen solo ensembles and choruses framing the acts demonstrate this wide variety as does Handel’s incorporation of pieces from various periods of his output: so the joyful experimentation of the early Italian cantata, with some bold ideas in instrumentation and part-writing, is given equal weight to the simpler style of the English masque, but nevertheless anticipating the depth of the later oratorios. In addition, in his compositional plan for HWV 49b, Handel demonstrated his ability in dramatic judgement and compelling structural urgency. In the first act, the pure joy of love predominates when Acis, Galatea and all kinds of shepherds and nymphs celebrate and sing of their common happiness. It seems that nothing can cast a cloud over the mood, but with the beginning of the second act, Polifemo appears, and in a scene of theatrical intimacy concentrating on the three main characters, the conflict between the lovers and the jealous Cyclops begins to unfold. The third act then leads inexorably into catastrophe and culminates in the murder of Acis, who breathes his last with a heart-rending death aria. Yet here too, in line with the Baroque genre, there is a successful transition to a happy ending in which Galatea transforms her lover into a river with which she is finally united.
Whilst the story, in contrast to opera seria with its complex and often confusing strands of plot, is kept as simple as possible, the music, with its great variety, is always at the service of the emotions and masterfully conveys the feelings of the protagonists in Handel’s typical congenial way.
The volume with HWV 49b will contain not only the version of the premiere of 1732, but also material from several reworkings which Handel undertook in the following years. This offers present-day interpreters the possibility of adapting the work to suit their own conditions. In its flexibility, its musical wealth and numerous unique features, the edition offers the ideal prerequisites for modern performances both in traditional opera houses and at specialist festivals.
Artie Heinrich
(translation: Elizabeth Robinson – from [t]akte 2/2012)