2 arias from Semele (1743)

Your tuneful voice

Despair no more shall wound me

Semele, the most operatic of all Handel’s oratorios, was less than successful when its was first presented at Covent Garden in February 1744. Based on a libretto drawn by William Congreve from Ovid and originally intended for operatic treatment, it was far from the morally uplifting treatment of a biblical story that the oratorio audience of the day was expecting. It ran for only four performances at Covent Garden and, in spite of the addition of Where e’er you walk to the original score, it did no better when it was revived, still in concert form, at the King’s Theatre later in the year. In fact, the superior quality of the work was not understood until – after two centuries of either neglect or, worse, ill-treatment in a “concert edition” by Ebeneezer Prout – its true nature was acknowledged and it was staged as an opera, most influentially perhaps at Sadler’s Wells in 1970 and Covent Garden in 1982.

One of the problems associated with Semele in the Victorian dark ages – before the revival of the countertenor voice – was the role of Athamas. At the begining of the work he is about to be married to Semele but finds himself abandoned at the altar when, with her ready agreement, Jupiter snatches her away for himself. Prout’s answer to the countertenor problem (in an abridgement still, unbelievably, on sale today) was simply to dump Athamas and, among other things, two particularly attractive arias originally assigned to the role. Your tuneful voice comes from the first act just after Semele has been plucked from the altar by Jupiter and her sister Ino has bestowed her condolences on him – not without ulterior motives. It is a beautifully poised demonstration of gratitude for what Athamas takes to be her selfless compassion. Despair no more shall wound me, an obviously operatic da capo aria, is a brilliantly sustained celebration of Athamas’s joy in the last act when he finds consolation for the loss of Semele in Inos’ embrace.

Your tuneful voice (Semele Act 1, scene 2, No.19)

Your tuneful voice my tale would tell,

in pity of my said despair.

And with sweet melody compel

attention from the flying fa

Despair no more shall wound me (Semele Act 3, scene 8, No.81)

Despair no more shall would me,

since you so kind do prove.

All joy and bliss surround me

my soul is turn’d to love.