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'{{Handel oratorios}}'''''Israel in Egypt''''' ([[HWV]] 54) is a [[The Bible|biblical]] [[oratorio]] by the composer [[George Frideric Handel]]. Many historians believe the libretto was compiled by Handel's collaborator [[Charles Jennens]], and it is composed entirely of selected passages from the [[Hebrew Bible]], mainly from [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] and the [[Psalms]]. Israel in Egypt premiered at [[London]]'s [[Her Majesty's Theatre|King's Theatre in the Haymarket]] on April 4, 1739. Handel started it soon after the opera season at King's theatre was cancelled because of a lack of subscribers. The oratorio was not well received by audiences, although commended in the ''[[Daily Post (London newspaper)|Daily Post]]'', and the second performance was shortened, the mainly choral work now augmented with Italian [[aria]]s. An early version of the piece is in three parts rather than the later two; incorporating the first part more famous as "The ways of Zion do Mourn", with altered text as "The Sons of Israel do Mourn" lamenting the death of Joseph. This section precedes the Exodus which in the tripartite version is Part II rather than Part I. This variant has been recorded by [[Andrew Parrott]] and [[Stephen Cleobury]]. For a long time, the earliest known recording of music known to be still in existence was an excerpt from this Oratorio (since then, the work of [[Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville]] has been rediscovered and played back). The recording was of several thousand singers singing "Moses and the Children of Israel" [http://www.nps.gov/archive/edis/edisonia/audio/EDIS-SRP-0154-17.mp3] in the Crystal Palace Handel Festival of 1888-06-29, recorded by [[Colonel|Col.]] [[George Gouraud]] on Edison's [[phonograph cylinder|yellow paraffin cylinder]]. The limitations of recording technology at that time, together with the number of voices, the distance of the recording device from the singers, and the acoustics of the Crystal Palace, mean that the recording was never hi-fidelity, and it has since then become badly degraded. What survives is of poor quality, but is identifiable by ear, and gives some insight into performance practices at the height of the Handel Festival phenomenon. {|align=right |{{Listen|filename=IsraelInEgypt18880629.ogg|title=1888 recording of Handel's "Israel In Egypt"|description=Recorded by George Gouraud at the Crystal Palace Handel Festival of 29 June 1888. Until recently, this was the earliest recording known.|format=[[Ogg]]}} |} File: it's not right all off tjis article WRONG :) ==References== * Anthony Hicks. "George Frideric Handel", ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|Grove Music Online]]'', ed. L. Macy (accessed May 20, 2006), [http://www.grovemusic.com/ grovemusic.com] (subscription access). {{DEFAULTSORT:Israel In Egypt}} [[Category:Oratorios by George Frideric Handel]] [[de:Israel in Egypt]] [[es:Israel en Egipto]] [[fr:Israël en Égypte]] [[pl:Izrael w Egipcie]] [[sv:Israel i Egypten]]'