was a failure. For many years after his death it was produced in
mutilated form; but in 1849 the Sacred Harmonic Society of London gave it
as it was originally written and as we know it now, without the Funeral
Anthem or any of the songs which had been introduced.

The text of the oratorio is supposed to have been written by Handel
himself, though the words are taken literally from the Bible. Schoelcher
says:

"The manuscript does not contain any of the names of the personages.
Nevertheless, the handbook, which includes the extracts from Solomon
for the first parts, has in this part the names of personages (High
Priest, Joseph, Israelite woman, Israelite man), as if the composer
wished to throw it into a dramatic form. The words in their Biblical
simplicity form a poem eminently dramatic."

The first part opens with the wail of the Israelites over the burdens
imposed upon them by their Egyptian taskmasters, and then in rapid
succession follow the plagues,--the water of the Nile turned to blood,
the reptiles swarming even into the king's chambers, the pestilence
scourging man and beast, the insect-cloud heralding the locusts, the
pelting hail and the fire running along the ground, the thick darkness,
and the smiting of the first-born. Then come the passage of the Red Sea
and the escape from bondage, closing the first part. The second part
opens with the triumphant song of Moses and the Children of Israel
rejoicing over the destruction of Pharaoh's host, and closes with the
exultant strain of Miriam the prophetess, "Sing ye to the Lord, for He
hath triumphed gloriously; the Horse and his Rider hath He thrown into
the Sea."

"Israel in Egypt" is essentially a choral oratorio. It comprises no less
than twenty-eight massive double choruses, linked together by a few bars
of recitative, with five arias and three duets interspersed among them.
Unlike Handel's other oratorios, there is no overture or even prelude to
the work. Six bars of recitative for tenor ("Now there arose a new King
over Egypt which knew not Joseph") suffice to introduce it, and lead
directly to the first double chorus ("And the Children of Israel
sighed"), the theme of which is first given out by the altos of one choir
with impressive pathos. The chorus works up to a climax of great force on
the phrase, "And their Cry came up unto God," the two choruses developing
with consummate power the two principal subjects,--first, the cry for
relief,