| This dissertation explores the intellectual bases for the presentation of English literary works and librettos in the musical dramatic works of George Frederic Handel. The musical dramas studied are Acis and Galatea (1718, libretto by John Gay); Alexander's Feast (1736, by John Dryden); A Song for St. Cecilia's Day (1739, by John Dryden); L'Allegro ed il Penseroso (1740, adapted from Milton's poems); Samson (1743, largely from Milton's Samson Agonistes); and Semele (1744, libretto by William Congreve). A Comparison of Handel's musical dramas with their sources should illuminate ideas underlying both of the arts and lead to an elucidation of the common bases of literature, dramatic art, and musical drama in the eighteenth century. In his treatment of the literature in musical drama, Handel, and his librettists, emphasize characterization, or the passions embodied in the characters as they are placed in emotion-producing contexts. Handel further interprets the literature in the light of eighteenth-century philosophical optimism which stresses the essential harmony of nature. His emphasis on the passions is reflected in the revisions made in the original literary texts for his librettos. The revisions of Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, for instance, emphasize how the two characters' perceptions of landscape are influenced by their different subjective views of life. Handel's optimism is reflected in his choruses' philosophical commentary on the action, much of which expresses a rational view of nature. Thus the literature provided ways for Handel to present eighteenth-century ideas of nature (human & external) in music. This presentation of literature leads to new developments on Handel's part, such as the expression of the sublime, the heroic, & the melancholic in music. Handel's musical drama, then, suggests how major authors were perceived in the eighteenth-century and, in doing so, illuminates eighteenth-century artistic values. |
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