Oratorio in three parts

Words by Thomas Morell
First performance: March 16,1750 at Covent Garden, London

Cast, in order of appearance:
Valens, President of Antioch (bass)
Didimus, Roman officer converted by Theodora (alto)
Septimius, a Roman officer (tenor)
Theodora, a Christian of noble birth (soprano)
Irene, a Christian, friend of Theodora (mezzo)
A messenger(tenor)

Program Notes by Martin Pearlman

With Theodora, Handel's second to last oratorio, the 64-year-old composer broke new ground.  It is his only oratorio other than Messiah to be based on a Christian subject, but Messiah is a grand ceremonial work, while Theodora is intimate and deals with religious devotion and human nobility on a very personal level. Here there is a sense of serenity and tranquility that is quite different from what we find in his earlier oratorios.  Alongside beautiful arias, many of the choruses have an unexpected contemplative quality.  In fact, the entire work concludes with a chorus that, rather than being a brilliant crowd-pleaser, is more of a gentle lullaby.  It has sometimes been compared to the final chorus of Bach's St. Matthew Passion, which is also in a minor key and 3/4 time.

Handel wrote Theodora in his characteristic white heat, completing the entire work in one month during the summer of 1749.  It was premiered at Covent Garden during the Lenten season of 1750.  His frequent practice of borrowing music from other composers, as well as from his own earlier works, is well represented here.  Musical ideas from a Bononcini opera, from chamber duets of Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari and others turn up in as many as fifteen numbers in Theodora, although, for the most part, they are greatly altered and are fashioned into music that is truly Handelian.  However, in one case, an entire harpsichord piece by Muffat is lifted whole and orchestrated to make one movement of the overture.

Handel's librettist, Thomas Morell, based his story on an early novella (1687) by Robert Boyle called The Martyrdom of Theodora and of Didymus, but he also borrowed elements of Corneille's earlier tragic play on the same subject. A noblewoman of Antioch who lived during the reign of the emperor Diocletian, Theodora converted to Christianity and was martyred in 304 A.D.  In the oratorio, she refuses to join a pagan ritual in honor of the emperor and is thrown into prison, where she is sentenced to serve as a temple prostitute, a fate that she considers worse than death.  Didimus, a Roman soldier who is in love with her and who has secretly converted to Christianity, pledges to save her.  He switches clothes with Theodora and takes her place in the prison cell.  But their ruse is discovered, and the oratorio ends with both Theodora and Didimus awaiting their martyrdom.

In retrospect, it is perhaps not surprising that a contemplative work with a tragic ending and a story about Christian virtue was not successful with the public of the day.  Handel's librettist tells us that the composer considered it his most important oratorio and was annoyed with its poor reception.  He reports Handel's complaint that "the Jews will not come to it because it is a Christian story, and the ladies will not come because it is a virtuous one."  Later in the season, when two patrons were trying to buy a ticket to Messiah, he reportedly snapped, "You are damnable dainty!  You would not go to Theodora -- there was room enough to dance there, when that was performed."  Nonetheless, there were some connoisseurs in the audience, as well as musicians who defended it as one of his greatest works.  One of them, Mary Delany, wrote, "the generality of the world have ears and hear not."

Yet despite his high regard for the work, Handel did evidently feel that there were problems with it as it was originally presented, and he quickly set about shortening and altering some of the scenes.  An original, lengthier version of a work is not necessarily preferable simply because it came first.  In this case, Handel's revisions appear to be his considered last thoughts about the oratorio, and they do significantly improve its structure overall.  But in truth, Handel may not have finished with it.  His eyesight failed him while he was writing Jephtha shortly afterward, and he could not work further on Theodora, even though he did perform it one more time in 1755.

Orchestration Chart

© Boston Baroque 2020

Boston Baroque Performances

Theodora

May 2 & 3, 2003
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor

Soloists:
Michael Dean - Valens
David Walker - Didimus
Glenn Siebert - Septimius
Sharon Baker - Theodora
Mary Phillips - Irene
Murray Kidd - Messenger

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