Research and Writing

PhD Dissertation:

'The Historical Context of Handel’s Semele (1743)'
Queens’ College, Cambridge. Supervised by Professor TCW Blanning.

This thesis attempts to locate Handel’s Semele within the broadest possible appreciation of the political, religious, moral and literary ideas of its time, to show not only how they enhance our understanding of it, but more importantly, to show how it develops and broadens our understanding of them.

The first chapter examines the development of Congreve’s original libretto in the context of Queen Anne’s reign. It traces his sources and locates his treatment in the context both of the national politics of the Act of Settlement and Hanoverian succession and the theatrical and moral politics of Jeremy Collier’s attack on Congreve in 1698, and shows how Congreve was responding to a range of political and moral imperatives. The second chapter considers the social and political context of Handel’s production. It illustrates how Semele related to national political concerns, including the fall of Walpole, the rise of Countess Yarmouth and the Patriot King opposition, and to the changing moral climate of Georgian Britain and to the political manoeuvrings of London’s theatre companies. The third chapter considers some of the musical and artistic influences on Handel’s composition of Semele. It outlines the other settings of the story and considers which of these, if any, might have influenced Handel’s. It also considers how extensively and from whence he may have borrowed musical material. The fourth chapter traces the development of Handel’s libretto. It also examines how his approach to performing Semele changed during the season of 1744.