Biblical Handel (and Lloyd-Webber)

Synopsis

A new oratorio by George Frederick Handel premiered on today's date in 1744. It was entitled "Joseph and his Brethren," and was based on the Biblical story of how Joseph had been sold into Egyptian slavery by his brothers who were jealous of his splendid coat of many colors. At the time, the oratorio was warmly received, but it never showed the lasting power of Handel's other great Biblical oratorios, "Saul", "Israel in Egypt", or "Samson."

Fast forward 224 years, to early March, 1968, for the premiere of another composer's take on the story of Joseph and his Brethren. Lasting only fifteen minutes when it was originally presented as a cantata at the Colet Court School in London, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was revised into a full-length musical five years later by Webber and his librettist, Tim Rice. It was a hit when presented at the West End, London's equivalent of Broadway—and it came to Broadway in 1982, running for 747 performances. The 2000 film version starred Donny Osmond.

Over 30 years since its inception and, so far, so good.

Of course, none of us will be around 224 years from now, to see if Lloyd-Webber's version of "Joseph" will fare any better with posterity than Handel's.

Music Played in Today's Program

George Frederic Handel (1685 - 1757) Joseph and His Brethren Choir of New College, Oxford; The King's Consort; Robert King, cond. Hyperion 67171

Andrew Lloyd Webber (b. 1948) Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Original Canadian Cast Recording Polygram 314 517 266

On This Day

Births

• 1824 - Bohemian composer Bedrich Smetana, in Leitomischl;

• 1900 - German-born American composer Kurt Weill, in Dessau;

• 1905 - American composer Marc Blitzstein, in Philadelphia;

• 1917 - British composer John Gardner, in Manchester;

• 1921 - British composer Robert Simpson, in Leamington;

Deaths

• 1959 - Finnish composer Yrjö (Henrik) Kilpinen, age 97, in Helsinki; He was the most famous Finnish composer of art songs (lieder);

• 2003 - Italian composer Goffredo Petrassi, age 98, in Rome;

• 2003 - Australian composer Malcolm Williamson, age 71, in Cambridge, England; In 1975 he became the first non-British born composer to serve as the Queen's Master of Music;

Premieres

• 1724 - Handel: opera "Giulio Cesare" in London (Julian date: Feb. 20);

• 1744 - Handel: oratorio "Joseph and his Brethren" in London at the Covent Garden Theater (Gregorian date: March 13);

• 1792 - Haydn: Symphony No. 98, conducted by the composer, at the Hanover-Square Concert Rooms in London;

• 1795 - Haydn: Symphony No. 103 ("The Drumroll"), conducted by the composer, at the King's Theater in London;

• 1874 - Rimsky-Korsakov: Symphony No. 3, in St. Petersburg, with the composer conducting; This was a benefit concert for the victims of the Volga famine, and marked Rimsky-Korsakov's debut as a conductor (Julian date: Feb. 18);

• 1887 - R. Strauss: "Aus Italien" (From Italy), in Munich;

• 1911 - Scriabin: Symphony No. 5 ("Prometheus: Poem of Fire"), in Moscow (Gregorian date: Mar. 15);

• 1961 - Copland: Nonet for Strings, at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., by members of the National Symphony conducted by the composer;

• 1977 - Benjamin Lees: "Dialogue" for cello and piano, in New York City.