Susanna (Handel)

Handel composed the music in the summer of 1748 and premiered the work the next season at Covent Garden theatre, London, on 10 February 1749.

The thirteenth chapter of the book of Daniel, considered apocryphal in Protestant tradition, tells how, during the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, a virtuous young woman was falsely accused of sexual promiscuity by two elders of the community who lusted after her themselves.

[2] After a series of patriotic English oratorios celebrating victory in the Jacobite rebellions, including Judas Maccabaeus and Joshua, Handel turned to a lighter operatic style with Susanna.

The oratorio is scored for a small orchestra of strings with oboes and bassoons, with trumpets appearing in the music only in the celebrations at the end of the work.

There are touches of comedy in Handel's musical characterisations of the lecherous Elders, while the steadfastness, purity and courage of the heroine Susanna are vividly portrayed.