After their highly successfully appearance with Athalia at St John’s Smith Square in 2014, the Camden Choir will pay a return visit on Saturday 23 June 2018 to perform another Handel masterpiece, Saul. With a libretto by Charles Jennens (1700–73), who was to collaborate with Handel on Messiah three years later, Saul is a dramatization of the King’s conflict with the Philistines, his relationship with his son Jonathan and his jealousy of Jonathan’s friendship with the man who eventually succeeded him as king – David. The action culminates in a great battle between the Israelites and the Philistines in which both Saul and Jonathan are killed, marked by the famous Dead March.
Saul was composed in 1738 and given its first performance at the King’s Theatre on 16th January the following year, when Handel was 52. It was a great success and was performed in subsequent seasons. Handel conceived it on a grand scale, using some unusual instruments for the time, such as a carillon (a bell-like keyboard instrument), three trombones and some large kettle drums (which he borrowed from the Tower of London for the première!).
The distinguished soloists at this performance will be Lesley Jane Rogers (soprano), Margaret McDonald (mezzo soprano), Mark Wilde (tenor), David Stout (baritone) and James Platt (bass) accompanied by Nicholas Houghton (continuo) and the Pro Arte, and conducted by the Camden Choir’s Musical Director Julian Williamson.
