The Opera of Alcina is a writing out, and
shall be sent according to your direction. It is
always a great pleasure to me if I have an
opportunity to show the sincere respect with
which I have the honour to be,
Sir,
&c., &c.,
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL.
Jennens was a conspicuous figure in the London society of his day. At the
time of this correspondence he was thirty-five, and unmarried; he
had inherited vast wealth in his youth and spent it freely. He was
ostentatious, even for an age when extravagance was fashionable; but
although he was conceited and on occasions foolish, he was certainly
possessed of considerable intellectual gifts, and the things which
interested him most in life were literature, music, and the fine arts. The
letter shows us that he must have admired _Alcina_ sufficiently to ask
the composer for a copy of the score. He also seized the opportunity of
offering him a libretto for a new oratorio. He had a very good opinion of
himself as a poet, and it is possible that he foresaw the importance of the
new type of semi-dramatic entertainment which Handel was creating. There
were plenty of Italian poetasters, even in London itself, who could put
together a conventional opera-book, but English oratorio was still in the
making, and it was not so easy to find a literary framework for it.
Pages:
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106