Handel Semele (HWV 58, 1744)

Original source for this document;
the main modifications are the colorization
and the links to the 1997 English National Opera production
conducted by Harry Bicket;
to see the videos directly, see this playlist.

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Georg Friedrich Händel

SEMELE

HWV 58

(1744)

Words by Newburgh Hamilton

George Frideric Handel HWV 58 Semele 1743

@Wikipedia, @IMSLP, my YouTube playlist, YouTube playlist for: Rosemary Joshua, Hilary Summers, Richard Croft, Stephen Wallace, Brindley Sherratt, Gail Pearson, Early Opera Company Chorus, Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company Orchestra (Chandos/Naxos Grange Park Opera 2007) “Semele: An English Opera?” by Derek Alsop
Dramatis Personæ and Libretto - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -		ENO-1997	Christie-2007	ENO-1999
Jupiter (tenor)		John Mark Ainsley (tenor)		The performers in the 1999 ENO production are, I believe, the same as in the 1997 one.
Cadmus, King of Thebes (bass)		Clive Bayley (bass)
Semele, Daughter to Cadmus, belov'd by and in love with Jupiter (soprano)		Rosemary Joshua (soprano)
Athamas, a Prince of Bœotia, in love with, and design'd to marry Semele (alto)		Stephen Wallace (countertenor)
Ino, Sister to Semele, in love with Athamas (mezzo-soprano)		Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano)
Somnus (bass)		Graeme Danby (bass)
Apollo (tenor)		John Mark Ainsley (tenor)
Juno (mezzo-soprano)		Susan Bickley (mezzo-soprano)
Iris (soprano)		Janis Kelly (soprano)
Priest (alto)		Clive Bayley (bass)
Chorus of Priests and Augurs
Chorus of Loves and Zephyrs
Chorus of Nymphs and Swains
Attendants
ACT ONE
1	Overture	ENO-1997-1	1-Christie-2007	1-ENO-1999
Scene 1
Cadmus, Athamas, Semele, Ino and Chorus of Priests. The scene is the temple of Juno. Near the altar is a golden image of the goddess. The Priests are in their solemnities, as after a sacrifice newly offered: flames arise from the altar and the statue of Juno is seen to bow.
2	Accompagnato Priest [Cadmus sings this in ENO-1997.] Behold! Auspicious flashes rise, Juno accepts our sacrifice; The grateful odour swift ascends, And see, the golden image bends!	ENO-1997-2	-Christie-2007	2-ENO-1999
3	Chorus of Priests Lucky omens bless our rites, And sure success shall crown your loves; Peaceful days and fruitful nights Attend the pair that she approves.	ENO-1997-3 ENO-1997-3 ENO-1997-3	-Christie-2007	(3-ENO-1999) 3-ENO-1999 (3/Peaceful-ENO-1999) 3/Peaceful-ENO-1999 (3/Attend-ENO-1999) 3/Attend-ENO-1999 (3/Semele_enters-ENO-1999
4	Recitative, arioso and duet Cadmus Daughter, obey, Hear and obey! With kind consenting Ease a parent's care; Invent no new delay, On this auspicious day. Athamas Oh, hear a faithful lover's prayer! On this auspicious day Invent no new delay.	ENO-1997-4	-Christie-2007	4-ENO-1999 (4/riternello-ENO-1999)
5	Accompagnato Semele (apart) Ah me! What refuge now is left me? How various, how tormenting Are my miseries! O Jove, assist me! Can Semele forego thy love, And to a mortal's passion yield? Thy vengeance will o'ertake such perfidy. If I deny, my father's wrath I fear.	ENO-1997-5	-Christie-2007	5-ENO-1999
6	Air Semele O Jove! In pity teach me which to choose, Incline me to comply, or help me to refuse! Teach me which to choose, Or help me to refuse!	ENO-1997-6	-Christie-2007	(6-ENO-1999) 6-ENO-1999 (6/riternello-ENO-1999)
[7, 8, and 9 are omitted from the 1997 ENO production.]
7	Air Semele The morning lark to mine accords his note, And tunes to my distress his warbling throat. Each setting and each rising sun I mourn, Wailing alike his absence and return. The morning lark. . . da capo
8	Recitative Athamas See, she blushing turns her eyes; See, with sighs her bosom panting! If from love those sighs arise, Nothing to my bliss is wanting.
9	Air Athamas Hymen, haste, thy torch prepare, Love already his has lighted! One soft sigh has cur'd despair, And more than my past pains requited. Hymen, haste. . . da capo
10	Recitative Ino Alas, she yields, And has undone me! I cannot longer hide my passion, It must have vent, Or inward burning Will consume me. O Athamas, I cannot utter it! Athamas On me fair Ino calls With mournful accent, Her colour fading, And her eyes o'erflowing! Ino O Semele! Semele On me she calls, Yet seems to shun me! What would my sister? Speak! Ino Thou hast undone me!	ENO-1997-10	-Christie-2007	10-ENO-1999
11	Quartet Cadmus Why dost thou thus untimely grieve, And all our solemn rites profane? Can he, or she thy woes relieve, Or I? Of whom dost thou complain? Ino Of all! But all, I fear, in vain. Athamas Can I thy woes relieve? Semele Can I assuage thy pain? Cadmus, Athamas, Semele Of whom dost thou complain? Ino Of all! but all, I fear, in vain.	ENO-1997-11	-Christie-2007	(11-ENO-1999) 11-ENO-1999 (11/riternello-ENO-1999)
Thunder is heard at a distance and the fire is extinguished on the altar.
12	Chorus of Priests Avert these omens, all ye pow'rs! Some god averse our holy rites controls; O'erwhelm'd with sudden night the day expires, Ill-boding thunder on the right hand rolls, And Jove himself descends in show'rs To quench our late propitious fires.	ENO-1997-12	-Christie-2007	12-ENO-1999
Flames are rekindled on the altar.
13	Accompagnato Cadmus Again auspicious flashes rise, Juno accepts our sacrifice. The fire is again extinguished. Again the sickly flame decaying dies: Juno assents, but angry Jove denies.	ENO-1997-13	-Christie-2007	13-ENO-1999
14	Recitative Athamas Thy aid, pronubial Juno, Athamas implores! Semele (apart) Thee, Jove, and thee alone, thy Semele adores!	ENO-1997-14	-Christie-2007	14-ENO-1999
A loud clap of thunder; the altar sinks.
15	Chorus of Priests Cease, cease your vows, 'tis impious to proceed, Begone, and fly this holy place with speed! This dreadful conflict is of dire presage, Begone, and fly from Jove's impending rage! Exeunt	ENO-1997-15	-Christie-2007	15-ENO-1999
Scene 2
Athamas and Ino
16	Recitative Athamas O Athamas, what torture hast thou borne, And oh, what hast thou yet to bear? From love, from hope, from near possession torn, And plung'd at once in deep despair!	ENO-1997-16	-Christie-2007	(16-ENO-1999) 16-ENO-1999
17	Air Ino Turn, hopeless lover, turn thy eyes, And see a maid bemoan, In flowing tears and aching sighs, Thy woes too like her own. Turn, hopeless lover. . . da capo	ENO-1997-17	-Christie-2007	(17-ENO-1999) 17-ENO-1999 (17/In-ENO-1999) 17/In-ENO-1999 17/Turn-ENO-1999 (17/riternello-ENO-1999)
18	Recitative Athamas She weeps! The gentle maid, in tender pity, Weeps to behold my misery! So Semele would melt To see another mourn.	ENO-1997-18	-Christie-2007	(18-ENO-1999) 18-ENO-1999
19	Air Athamas Your tuneful voice my tale would tell, In pity of my sad despair; And with sweet melody compel Attention from the flying fair. Your tuneful voice. . . da capo	ENO-1997-19	-Christie-2007	(19-ENO-1999) 19-ENO-1999 (19/And-ENO-1999) 19/And-ENO-1999 (19/Your-ENO-1999) 19/Your-ENO-1999 (19/riternello-ENO-1999)
20	Recitative Ino Too well I see, Thou wilt not understand me. Whence could proceed such tenderness? Whence such compassion? Insensible, ingrate, Ah no, I cannot blame thee! For by effects, unknown before, Who could the hidden cause explore, Or think that love could act so strange a part, To plead for pity in a rival's heart? Athamas Ah me, what have I heard, She does her passion own!	ENO-1997-20	-Christie-2007	20-ENO-1999
21	Duet Ino You've undone me, Look not on me! Guilt upbraiding, Shame invading, You've undone me, Look not on me! Athamas With my life I would atone Pains you've borne, To me unknown. Cease to shun me. Both Love alone Has both undone!	ENO-1997-21	-Christie-2007	21-ENO-1999 21/With-ENO-1999 21/Love-ENO-1999 (21/riternello-ENO-1999)
Scene 3
To them Enter Cadmus, attended.
22	Recitative Cadmus Ah, wretched prince, doom'd to disastrous love! Ah me, of parents most forlorn! Prepare, O Athamas, to prove The sharpest pangs that e'er were borne, Prepare with me our common loss to mourn! Athamas Can fate, or Semele, invent Another, yet another punishment?	ENO-1997-22	-Christie-2007	22-ENO-1999
23	Accompagnato Cadmus Wing'd with our fears and pious haste, From Juno's fane we fled. Scarce we the brazen gates had pass'd, When Semele around her head With azure flames was grac'd, Whose lambent glories in her tresses play'd. While this we saw with dread surprise, Swifter than lightning downward tending, An eagle stoop'd, of mighty size, On purple wings descending, Like gold his beak, like stars shone forth his eyes, His silver plumy breast with snow contending. Sudden he snatch'd the trembling maid, And soaring from our sight convey'd, Diffusing ever as he less'ning flew Celestial odour and ambrosial dew.	ENO-1997-23	-Christie-2007	23-ENO-1999
24	Recitative Athamas Oh prodigy, to me of dire portent! Ino To me I hope, of fortunate event!		-Christie-2007
Scene 4
Enter to them Chorus of Priests and Augurs.
24+	Cadmus See, see, Jove's Priests and holy Augurs come, Speak, speak of Semele, and me declare the doom!		-Christie-2007
25	Chorus of Priests and Augurs Hail Cadmus, hail! Jove salutes the Theban king! Cease your mourning, Joys returning, Songs of mirth and triumph sing! Hail Cadmus, hail!	ENO-1997-25	-Christie-2007	(25-ENO-1999) 25-ENO-1999
26	Air and Chorus Semele Endless pleasure, endless love, Semele enjoys above! On her bosom Jove reclining, Useless now his thunder lies; To her arms his bolts resigning, And his lightning to her eyes. Priests and Augurs Endless pleasure, endless love Semele enjoys above!	ENO-1997-26	-Christie-2007	(26-ENO-1999) 26-ENO-1999 26/On-ENO-1999 26/To-ENO-1999 26/Endless-ENO-1999 (26/Chorus-ENO-1999) 26/Chorus-ENO-1999
ACT TWO
27	Symphony	ENO-1997-27	-Christie-2007	27-ENO-1999
Scene 1
A pleasant country, the prospect terminated by a beautiful mountain adorn'd with woods and waterfalls. Juno and Iris descend in different machines. Juno in a chariot drawn by peacocks; Iris on a rainbow; they alight and meet.
28	Recitative Juno Iris, impatient of thy stay, From Samos have I wing'd my way To meet thy slow return. Iris With all his speed not yet the sun Through half his race has run, Since I, to execute thy dread command, Have thrice encompass'd sea and land. Juno Say, where is Semele's abode? Iris Look, where Cithaeron proudly stands, Bœotia parting from Cecropian lands. High on the summit of that hill, Beyond the reach of mortal eyes, By Jove's command and Vulcan's skill, Behold a new-erected palace rise!	ENO-1997-28	-Christie-2007	(28/curtain_rises-ENO-1999) 28-ENO-1999
29	Air Iris There, from mortal cares retiring, She resides in sweet retreat. On her pleasure, Jove requiring, All the Loves and Graces wait. There. . . da capo	ENO-1997-29	-Christie-2007	(29/Iris/There-ENO-1999) 29/Iris/There-ENO-1999 (29/Iris/On-ENO-1999) 29/Iris/On-ENO-1999 (29/Iris/There-ENO-1999) 29/Iris/There-ENO-1999
30	Recitative Juno No more, I'll hear no more!	ENO-1997-29	-Christie-2007	30-ENO-1999
31	Accompagnato Juno Awake, Saturnia, from thy lethargy! Seize, destroy the cursed Semele! Scale proud Cithaeron's top, Snatch her, tear her in thy fury, And down to the flood of Acheron Let her fall, let her fall, fall, fall, Rolling down the depths of night, Never more to behold the light. If I th'imperial scepter sway, I swear By hell! (Tremble, thou universe, this oath to hear!) Not one of curst Agenor's race to spare.	ENO-1997-31	-Christie-2007	31-ENO-1999
32	Recitative Iris Hear, mighty queen, while I recount What obstacles you must surmount.	ENO-1997-32	-Christie-2007	32-ENO-1999
33	Accompagnato Iris With adamant the gates are barr'd, Whose entrance two fierce dragons guard. At each approach they lash their forky stings And clap their brazen wings; And as their scaly horrors rise, They all at once disclose A thousand fiery eyes Which never know repose.	ENO-1997-33	-Christie-2007	33-ENO-1999
34	Air Juno Hence, Iris, hence away, Far from the realms of day! O'er Scythian hills to the Maeotian lake A speedy flight we'll take! There Somnus I'll compel His downy bed to leave, and silent cell; With noise and light I will his peace molest, Nor shall he sink again to pleasing rest, Till to my vow'd revenge he grants supplies, And seals with sleep the wakeful dragons' eyes. Hence. . . da capo Exeunt	ENO-1997-34	-Christie-2007	34/Juno/Hence-ENO-1999 34/Juno/O'er-ENO-1999 (34/Juno/Hence-ENO-1999) 34/Juno/Hence-ENO-1999 (34/Juno/ritornello-ENO-1999)
Scene 2
Plot summary from the BBC broadcast				2/2/plot_summary-ENO-1999
An apartment in the palace of Semele. She is sleeping, Loves and Zephyrs waiting.
34+	This seems to be omitted from the 1997 ENO performance. [Air Cupid Come, Zephyrs, come, while Cupid sings, Fan her with your silky wings! New desire I'll inspire, And revive the dying flames. Dance around her While I wound her, And with pleasure Fill her dreams. Come, Zephyrs, come. . . da capo]
Semele awakes and rises.
35	Air Semele O sleep, why dost thou leave me, Why thy visionary joys remove? O sleep, again deceive me, To my arms restore my wand'ring love!	ENO-1997-35	-Christie-2007	(35/Semele/O-ENO-1999) 35/Semele/O-ENO-1999 (35/Semele/ritornello-ENO-1999)
Scene 3
To them enter Jupiter.
36	Recitative Semele Let me not another moment Bear the pangs of absence; Since you have form'd my soul for loving, No more afflict me With doubts and fears and cruel jealousy!	ENO-1997-36	-Christie-2007	36-ENO-1999
37	Air Jupiter Lay your doubts and fears aside, And for joys alone provide. Though this human form I wear, Think not I man's falsehood bear. Lay your doubts. . . da capo	ENO-1997-37	-Christie-2007	(37-ENO-1999) 37-ENO-1999 (37/Though-ENO-1999) 37/Though-ENO-1999 (37/Lay-ENO-1999) 37/Lay-ENO-1999 (37/ritornello-ENO-1999)
38	Recitative Jupiter You are mortal and require Time to rest and to repose. I was not absent, While Love was with thee I was present: Love and I are one.	ENO-1997-38	-Christie-2007	38-ENO-1999
39	Air Semele With fond desiring, With bliss expiring, Panting, Fainting, If this be Love, not you alone, But Love and I are one. Causeless doubting, Or despairing, Rashly trusting, Idly fearing, If this be Love, not you alone, But Love and I are one With fond. . . da capo	ENO-1997-39	-Christie-2007	(39-ENO-1999) 39-ENO-1999 (39/Causeless-ENO-1999) 39/Causeless-ENO-1999 (39/With-ENO-1999) 39/With-ENO-1999 39/chorus_enters-ENO-1999
40	Chorus of Loves and Zephyrs How engaging, how endearing, Is a lover's pain and care! And what joy the nymph's appearing After absence or despair! How engaging. . . da capo	ENO-1997-40	-Christie-2007	40-ENO-1999 (40/And-ENO-1999) 40/And-ENO-1999 (40/How-ENO-1999) 40/How-ENO-1999 (40/ritornello-ENO-1999)
41	Recitative Semele Ah me! Jupiter Why sighs my Semele? What gentle sorrow Swells thy soft bosom? Why tremble those fair eyes With interrupted light, Where hov'ring for a vent, Amidst their humid fires, Some new-form'd wish appears? Speak, and obtain! Semele At my own happiness I sigh and tremble, For I am mortal, Still a woman; And ever when you leave me, Though compass'd round with deities Of Loves and Graces, A fear invades me, And conscious of a nature Far inferior, I seek for solitude And shun society. Jupiter (apart) Too well I read her meaning, But must not understand her: Aiming at immortality With dangerous ambition.	ENO-1997-41	-Christie-2007	41-ENO-1999
42	Air Jupiter I must with speed amuse her Lest she too much explain. It gives the lover double pain Who hears his nymph complain, And hearing, must refuse her. I must. . . da capo	ENO-1997-42	-Christie-2007	(42-ENO-1999) 42-ENO-1999 (42/It-ENO-1999) 42/It-ENO-1999 (42/I-ENO-1999) 42/I-ENO-1999 (42/ritornello-ENO-1999)
43	Chorus of Loves and Zephyrs Now Love that everlasting boy invites To revel while you may in soft delights.	ENO-1997-43	-Christie-2007	(43-ENO-1999) 43-ENO-1999 (43/ritornello-ENO-1999)
44	Recitative Jupiter By my command Now at this instant Two winged Zephyrs From her downy bed Thy much lov'd Ino bear, And both together Waft her hither, Through the balmy air. Semele Shall I my sister see, The dear companion Of my tender years? Jupiter See, she appears, But sees not me; For I am visible Alone to thee. While I retire, rise and meet her, And with welcomes greet her. Now all this scene shall to Arcadia turn, The seat of happy nymphs and swains; There without the rage of jealousy they burn, And taste the sweets of love without its pains.	ENO-1997-44	-Christie-2007	44-ENO-1999
45	Air Jupiter Where'er you walk, cool gales shall fan the glade; Trees, where you sit, shall crowd into a shade. Where'er you tread, the blushing flow'rs shall rise, And all things flourish where'er you turn your eyes. Where'er. . . da capo Exit.	ENO-1997-45	-Christie-2007	(45-ENO-1999) 45-ENO-1999 (45/tread-ENO-1999) 45/tread-ENO-1999 (45/walk-ENO-1999) 45/walk-ENO-1999 (45/ritornello-ENO-1999)
Scene 4
Semele and Ino meet and embrace. Chorus of Nymphs and Swains.
46	Recitative Semele Dear sister, how was your passage hither? Ino O'er many states and peopled towns we pass'd, O'er hills and valleys, and o'er deserts waste; O'er barren moors, and o'er unwholesome fens, And woods where beasts inhabit dreadful dens. Through all which pathless way our speed was such, We stopp'd not once the face of earth to touch. Meantime they told me, while through air we fled, That Jove did thus ordain.	ENO-1997-46	-Christie-2007	46/Ino_enters-ENO-1999 46-ENO-1999
47	Air Ino But hark, the heav'nly sphere turns round, And silence now is drown'd In ecstasy of sound. How on a sudden the still air is charm'd As if all harmony were just alarm'd! And ev'ry soul with transport fill'd, Alternately is thaw'd and chill'd.	ENO-1997-47	-Christie-2007	(47-ENO-1999) 47-ENO-1999
48	Duet Semele and Ino Prepare then, ye immortal choir, Each sacred minstrel tune his lyre, And all in chorus join!	ENO-1997-48	-Christie-2007	48-ENO-1999 48/chorus_enters-ENO-1999
49	Chorus of Nymphs and Swains Bless the glad earth with heav'nly lays, And to that pitch th'eternal accents raise, That all appear divine!	ENO-1997-49	-Christie-2007	49-ENO-1999
ACT THREE
Scene 1
The Cave of Sleep. The God of Sleep lying on his bed. Juno and Iris appear.
50	Symphony	ENO-1997-50	-Christie-2007	(Act_3_preview-ENO-1999) (conductor_Bicket_enters-ENO-1999) 50-ENO-1999
51	Accompagnato Juno Somnus, awake, Raise thy reclining head! Iris Thyself forsake, And lift up thy heavy lids of lead!	ENO-1997-51	-Christie-2007	51-ENO-1999
52	Air Somnus (waking) Leave me, loathsome light, Receive me, silent night! Lethe, why does thy ling'ring current cease? Oh, murmur, murmur me again to peace! Sleeps again.	ENO-1997-52	-Christie-2007	(52-ENO-1999) 52-ENO-1999 (52/Lethe-ENO-1999) 52/Lethe-ENO-1999
53	Recitative Iris Dull God, canst thou attend the water's fall, And not hear Saturnia call? Juno Peace, Iris, peace! I know how to charm him: Pasithea's name alone can warm him. (To Somnus) Somnus, arise! Disclose thy tender eyes; For Pasithea's sight Endure the light. Somnus, arise!	ENO-1997-53	-Christie-2007	53-ENO-1999
54	Air Somnus More sweet is that name Than a soft purling stream. With pleasure repose I'll forsake, If you'll grant me but her to soothe me awake. More sweet. . . da capo	ENO-1997-54	-Christie-2007	(54-ENO-1999) -ENO-1999 -ENO-1999 -ENO-1999
55	Recitative Juno My will obey, She shall be thine. Thou, with thy softer pow'rs, First Jove shalt captivate. To Morpheus then give order, Thy various minister, That with a dream in shape of Semele, But far more beautiful And more alluring, He may invade the sleeping deity; And more to agitate his kindling fire Still let the phantom seem to fly before him, That he may wake impetuous, furious in desire, Unable to refuse whatever boon Her coyness shall require. Somnus I tremble to comply. Juno To me thy leaden rod resign, To charm the sentinels On mount Cithaeron. Then cast a sleep on mortal Ino, That I may seem her form to wear, When I to Semele appear.	ENO-1997-55
56	Duet Juno Obey my will, thy rod resign, And Pasithea shall be thine. Somnus All I must grant, for all is due To Pasithea, love and you. Exeunt	ENO-1997-56
Scene 2
An Apartment. Semele alone.
57	Air Semele My racking thoughts by no kind slumbers freed, But painful nights to joyful days succeed.	ENO-1997-57
Scene 3
To her Enter Juno as Ino, with a mirror in her hand.
58	Recitative Juno (apart) Thus shap'd like Ino, With ease I shall deceive her, And in this mirror she shall see Herself as much transform'd as me. (To Semele) Do I some goddess see, Or is it Semele! Semele Dear sister, speak, Whence this astonishment? Juno Your charms improving To divine perfection, Show you were late admitted Amongst celestial beauties. Has Jove consented, And are you made immortal? Semele Ah no! I still am mortal; Nor am I sensible Of any change or new perfection.	ENO-1997-58
59	Air Juno (giving her the glass) Behold in this mirror Whence comes my surprise! Such lustre and terror Unite in your eyes, That mine cannot fix on a radiance so bright, 'Tis unsafe for the sense and too slipp'ry for sight.	ENO-1997-59
60	Recitative Semele Oh, ecstasy of happiness! Celestial graces I discover in each feature!	ENO-1997-60
61	Air Semele Myself I shall adore, If I persist in gazing. No object sure before Was ever half so pleasing. Myself. . . da capo	ENO-1997-61
62	Recitative Juno Be wise, as you are beautiful, Nor lose this opportunity. When Jove appears, All ardent with desire, Refuse his proffer'd flame Till you obtain a boon without a name. Semele Can that avail me? But how shall I attain To immortality?	ENO-1997-62
63	Accompagnato Juno Conjure him by his oath Not to approach your bed In likeness of a mortal, But like himself, the mighty thunderer, In pomp of majesty And heav'nly attire, As when he proud Saturnia charms, And with ineffable delights Fills her encircling arms, And pays the nuptial rites. You shall partake then of immortality, And thenceforth leave this mortal state To reign above, Ador'd by Jove, In spite of jealous Juno's hate.	ENO-1997-63
64	Air Semele Thus let my thanks be paid, Thus let my arms embrace thee, And when I'm a goddess made, With charms like mine I'll grace thee.	ENO-1997-64
65	Recitative Juno Rich odours fill the fragrant air, And Jove's approach declare. I must retire. Semele Adieu, your counsel I'll pursue. Juno (apart) And sure destruction will ensue, Vain wretched fool, adieu! Exit.	ENO-1997-65
Scene 4
Jupiter enters, offers to embrace Semele; she looks kindly on him, but retires a little from him.
66	Air Jupiter Come to my arms, my lovely fair, Soothe my uneasy care. In my dream late I woo'd thee, And in vain I pursued thee, For you fled from my prayer, And bid me despair. Come to my arms, my lovely fair.	ENO-1997-66
67	Recitative Jupiter O Semele! Why art thou thus insensible?	ENO-1997-67
68	Air Semele I ever am granting, You always complain. I always am wanting, Yet never obtain. I ever am granting, You always complain.	ENO-1997-68
69	Recitative Jupiter Speak, speak your desire, Say what you require, I'll grant it. Semele Swear by the Stygian lake!	ENO-1997-69
70	Accompagnato Jupiter By that tremendous flood, I swear. Ye Stygian waters, hear, And thou, Olympus, shake, In witness to the oath I take! Thunder is heard at a distance and underneath.	ENO-1997-70
71	Recitative Semele You'll grant what I require? Jupiter I'll grant what you require.	ENO-1997-71
72	Accompagnato Semele Then cast off this human shape which you wear, And Jove since you are, like Jove too appear!	ENO-1997-72
73	Air Jupiter Ah, take heed what you press, For, beyond all redress, Should I grant your request, I shall harm you.	ENO-1997-73
74	Air Semele No, no, I'll take no less, Than all in full excess! Your oath it may alarm you. Yet haste and prepare, For I'll know what you are, With all your powers arm you. No, no. . . da capo Exit.	ENO-1997-74
Scene 5
75	Accompagnato Jupiter (pensive and dejected) Ah, whither is she gone! unhappy fair? Why did she wish, why did I rashly swear? 'Tis past, 'tis past recall, She must a victim fall. Anon when I appear The mighty thunderer, Arm'd with inevitable fire, She needs must instantly expire. 'Tis past, 'tis past recall, She must a victim fall. My softest lightning yet I'll try, And mildest melting bolt apply; In vain, for she was fram'd to prove None but the lambent flames of love. 'Tis past, 'tis past recall, She must a victim fall.	ENO-1997-75
Scene 6
Juno, alone.
76	Air Juno Above measure Is the pleasure, Which my revenge supplies. Love's a bubble, Gain'd with trouble, And in possessing dies. With what joy shall I mount to my heav'n again, At once from my rival and jealousy freed! The sweets of revenge make it worth while to reign, And heav'n will hereafter be heav'n indeed. Above measure. . . da capo	ENO-1997-76
Scene 7
The scene discovers Semele under a canopy, leaning pensively, while a mournful symphony is playing. She looks up and sees Jupiter descending in a cloud; flashes of lightning issue from either side, and thunder is heard grumbling in the air.
77	Accompagnato Semele Ah me! Too late I now repent My pride and impious vanity. He comes! Far off his lightnings scorch me, Ah, I feel my life consuming: I burn, I burn, I faint, for pity I implore, Oh help, oh help, I can no more! She dies. The cloud bursts, and Semele with the palace instantly disappears.	ENO-1997-77
Scene 8
Cadmus, Athamas, Ino and Chorus of Priests.
78	[This number seems to be omitted from the ENO-1997 production. Recitative Ino Of my ill-boding dream Behold the dire event! ]
79	Chorus of Priests Oh, terror and astonishment! Nature to each allots his proper sphere, But that forsaken we like meteors err: Toss'd through the void, by some rude shock we're broke, And all our boasted fire is lost in smoke.	ENO-1997-79
80	Recitative Ino How I was hence remov'd, Or hither how return'd, I know not: So long a trance withheld me. But Hermes in a vision told me, As I have now related, The fate of Semele; And added, as from me he fled, That Jove ordain'd I Athamas should wed. Cadmus Be Jove in ev'rything obey'd. Joins their hands. Athamas Unworthy of your charms myself I yield, Be Jove's commands and yours fulfill'd.	ENO-1997-80
	[81 and 82 are omitted from the 1997 ENO production. 81. Air Athamas Despair no more shall wound me, Since you so kind do prove. All joy and bliss surround me, My soul is tun'd to love. Despair no more. . . da capo 82. Recitative Cadmus See from above the bellying clouds descend, And big with some new wonder this way tend. ]
Scene the Last
A bright cloud descends and rests upon Mount Cithaeron, which, opening, discovers Apollo seated in it as the God of Prophecy.
83	Symphony	ENO-1997-83
84	Accompagnato Apollo Apollo comes, to relieve your care, And future happiness declare. From Semele's ashes a phœnix shall rise, The joy of this earth, and delight of the skies: A God he shall prove More mighty than Love, And sighing and sorrow for ever prevent.	ENO-1997-84
85	Chorus of Priests Happy, happy shall we be, Free from care, from sorrow free. Guiltless pleasures we'll enjoy, Virtuous love will never cloy; All that's good and just we'll prove, And Bacchus crown the joys of love.	ENO-1997-85

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Initially input by Pierre Degott (degott@zeus.univ-metz.fr);
HTML conversion by Potharn Imre (pubi@altavista.net)

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Semele (1744)

The movements in this playlist
(the horizontal lines demarcate individual videos):

ACT I
...
26. Air and Chorus, Semele, Endless pleasure, endless love

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ACT II
27. Symphony
28. Recitative, Juno, Iris, impatient of thy stay
...
34. Air, Juno, Hence, Iris, hence away

---

35. Air, Semele, O sleep, why dost thou leave me
36. Recitative, Semele, Let me not another moment
37. Air, Jupiter, Lay your doubts and fears aside
...

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41. Recitative, Semele Ah me! Jupiter Why sighs my Semele?
42. Air, Jupiter, I must with speed amuse her
43. Chorus of Loves and Zephyrs, Now Love that everlasting boy invites

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44. Recitative, Jupiter, By my command
45. Air, Jupiter, Where'er you walk, cool gales shall fan the glade
...

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ACT III
50. Symphony
51. Accompagnato, Juno, Somnus, Awake, Raise thy reclining head!
52. Air, Somnus (waking), Leave me, loathsome light
53. Recitative, Iris, Dull God, canst thou attend the water's fall
54. Air, Somnus, More sweet is that name
55. Recitative, Juno, My will obey
56. Duet, Juno, Somnus, Obey my will, thy rod resign

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57. Air, Semele, My racking thoughts by no kind slumbers freed

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58. Recitative, Juno (apart), Thus shap'd like Ino
59. Air, Juno (giving her the glass), Behold in this mirror
60. Recitative, Semele, Oh, ecstasy of happiness!
61. Air, Semele, Myself I shall adore
...

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72. Accompagnato, Semele, Then cast off this human shape which you wear
73. Air, Jupiter, Ah, take heed what you press
74. Air, Semele, No, no, I'll take no less
...

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77. Accompagnato, Semele, Ah me! Too late I now repent
79. Chorus of Priests, Oh, terror and astonishment!




By the way, the costume of Juno in the ENO production
was, according to the British reviews,
deliberately modeled on that in a well-known portrait of QEII.


This really is a wonderful production of this opera.
One wonders how many people are familiar with
either the opera or this particular production.
It certainly, in my opinion, deserves wider publication
(or whatever the appropriate word is for video productions).
Wouldn’t it be a nice idea if some British company
would make a movie/DVD of the complete production?

If it were up to me (which, no doubt fortunately in the view of many, it is not),
I would go further, and make a completely X rated version of the story.
How much of an audience would there be for
delightful love-making to accompany Handel’s delightful music?

And by the way,
isn’t this a real triumph for Rosemary Joshua?
There are some great singers,
and there are many fine actresses.
But she is absolutely superlative in both realms.
See, in particular her three bravura arias:

26, Endless love, endless pleasure
(also: Aix 1996)

61, Myself I shall adore

74, No, no, I’ll take no less
(also: Aix 1996)
How’s that for an angry housewife :-)
Jove may never be the same!

Isn’t she fantastic!
The emotional force and vividness of her acting
really brings the drama to life.
Bravo, Rosemary!!!
If this were a movie under the purview of the Motion Picture Academy,
would she not deserve an Oscar?

---

Here is most of the description of Semele
in Paul Henry Lang’s 1966 biography George Frideric Handel.

---

Semele was composed in a spirit of content;
the pure fancy of its melody shows this.
The creative rapture is clearly in evidence in the total lack of borrowing.
Handel so skillfully intermingles narrative with moments of lyric intensity
that the story becomes a sustained song;
but the love lyric is in the carnal mode,
the passions are deep, intimate, and undisguised.
Semele is an opera of love,
a radiant work celebrating, with a kind of ecstasy of the senses,
the glory of a woman’s form and presence.
Handel approached it with masculine feelings,
with a purely human—even heathen—energy.
There is no sentimentality in his concept;
in the tragedy of love what matters is love,

Love that is first and last of all things made,
The light that has the living world for shade.

Contrary to certain interpretations,
there is nothing symbolic in Handel’s treatment of the story.

Semele, daughter of King Cadmus of Thebes,
loves Jove, who courts her in the guise of a mortal.
She is also loved by Athamas, prince of Bœthia,
who in turn is loved, though secretly, by Ino, Semele’s sister.
We are dealing here with a timeless love quadrangle
(to which we may add Juno, with her jealous attachment to her husband),
the very stuff of the lyric stage.
The lyric cries and protests against the bondage of earthly life
hold communion with yearning in a profoundly human sense
altogether free of the supernatural.
Indeed, perhaps we should reverse Anatole France’s line:
Les dieux sont cruels quand un homme les agite
(English).

Semele is a beautifully developed character,
a very real if unusual woman who takes shape and becomes vital in her first sentences,
stays alive throughout the work, and is still living after it is finished.
She seems to be half-numbed by her great passion,
a complete egoist wholly devoted to the rapture of the moment,
a voluptuous, yielding coil of flesh,
who nonetheless is possessive and demanding.
Juno is a fine portrait of a jealous woman who will not rest
until she destroys her rival by any means at her disposal.
And, as we know from mythology, she had a good deal of experience in such matters.
At that, she does not lack nobility,
and hers the most forceful personality in the entire cast,
a superb characterization.
Jove is not really the “might thunderer”;
all he wants is to make love, and in his eagerness to attain his desire
he makes mistakes unbecoming to a god.
But beneath that exterior there is revealed
a nature capable of deep feeling and a personality
who in the end is shaken rather than frivolous.
Somnus, the God of Sleep, is engagingly drawn,
with a goodly touch of the Italian buffa,
but Iris remains quite impersonal.
Nor do Athamas and Ino attract Handel’s full attention;
both of them are rather pale accessories, though Ino is not without passion.
Cadmus, the old King, being a grieving father, Handel warms to him;
his uncomprehending sorrow is touching.
The chorus has a reduced role in Semele,
but it forms an integral part of the drama,
and its music is throughout of exceptional quality.

---

[The numbers in brackets below refer to the numbers in
this version of the libretto.]

Semele begins with a broad and strong overture,
though its third part is a delicately pensive gavotte
whose rhythm and tone are carried over into several of the songs.
The opening chorus, “Lucky omens” [3],
immediately creates an operatic situation;
this is not an anthem but a wedding ceremonial.
The rhythm is still dancelike and remains so
in the choral fugue that ends the scene.
No one knew better than Handel that in essence the fugue is a dance piece.
But this finely wrought choral piece, like most of the others in Semele,
merely furnishes the background;
it does not, as in Saul or Samson, enter the drama proper.
The latter is immediately evident, though as yet without tragic overtones.
King Cadmus urges his daughter to “invent no new delay”;
it is time to “obey, hear, and obey” [4].
Athamas, a bit pompously, repeats the King’s demand.
This at once indicates that these two are dealing with
a rebellious woman who will not marry against her choice.
The real world does not exist in the face of all-embracing love,
and just as Juliet is absolutely indifferent to the fact that
Romeo killed Tybalt, her kinsman,
Semele cares neither for her father not for her suitor,
addressing herself to her lover, Jove [5,6].
Handel immediately shows us what manner of woman she is:
the wide interval of the ninth on “Oh Jove”
cuts into the innocuous scene with instantaneous fervor.
This is opera music of the first water,
the voice part later punctuated with eloquent “composed” pauses.
In her next aria, “The morning lark to mine accord his note” [7, omitted in ENO-1997],
Handel slips a little into the old routine of Baroque opera,
for this is a “bird” or “lark” song
like the many delightful ones he composed as simile arias.

Presently the dramatic scene becomes tense,
for neither Athamas nor Semele understands Ino’s state of mind,
and they are surprised at her outburst,
“I can no longer hide my passion” [10].
The old king is also distressed by the behavior of his two daughters.
Here something extraordinary happens.
Handel unites the four principals in a quartet [11], a genuine dramatic ensemble.
This piece, quite unusual in Handel’s day
(though, as we shall see, Solomon has an equally remarkable trio),
does not resemble anything in any masque or oratorio;
it is of a type that was to become the glory of opera.
Every one of the figures retains his individuality,
and Handel makes them enter the ensemble one by one
at the right psychological moment.
Now the chorus falls in [12],
adding an effective postscript to the fears and indecisions expressed in the quartet.
The choral setting is Handel at his sturdiest.
Cadmus and Athamas are dismayed as the flame on the altar dies [13 and 14],
but Semele sings—“aside,” say the stage directions—
“Thee Jove, and thee alone, they Semele adores” [14].
Everyone is now angry, and the chorus explodes with wrath [15]:
“Cease your vows,” it thunders, “ ’tis impious to proceed” with the nuptial ceremony,
and the cast is virtually expelled except for Ino and Athamas.

Ino pleads, “Turn, hopeless lover, turn thy eyes” [17].
The aria is carefully constructed,
but Ino still appears a somewhat pale woman.
Athamas, unable to grasp the situation,
tries to comfort her in a brotherly way [18 and 19],
which does not make the music glow.
Ino, realizing that her oblique allusions are wasted,
bursts out into a rather fiery recitative, “Insensible! Ingrate!” [20]
whereupon Athamas finally recognizes the true portent of her complaints.
The following duet [21] aptly illustrates their predicament;
Athamas is shocked at the discovery of unrequited love,
and Ino is dismayed at having lost her head.
Since both are now emotionally aroused, their music picks up in intensity.

Now comes a typical example of Baroque operatic dues ex machine:
Jove, in the shape of an eagle, abducts Semele.
While Cadmus in a touching accompanied recitative [23] is crushed by this turn,
the chorus does not see any calamity;
instead it congratulates Cadmus in a fine dance tune [25],
because a member of his house has risen to the rank of divine mistress.
The horns added to the orchestra lend it
the joyous sound Handel always likes to give to the heathen.
After this,
Semele’s voice is heard from above to the tune of a delectable gavotte:
“Endless pleasure, endless love Semele enjoys above” [26].
The aria was originally not intended for her (it is written in the third person),
but Semele surely sings in character,
leaving the impression that she can hardly contain herself recounting the delights of love.
The music is so ravishing, its lucid directness, its sensuous-poetic power so pervasive,
that the act-ending chorus can do no better than appropriate it,
further enhancing its charm with fine madrigalesque imitations.

---

After a remarkable—and capricious—sinfonia [27],
the second act opens with Juno questioning the Olympian messenger, Iris [28],
who tells Jove’s wife about the “sweet retreat” of her rival [29],
and the pleasures she is enjoying,
the music resembling Galatea’s in its near galant simplicity.
Juno is incensed, and elicits strong music from Handel.
In a particularly expressive accompanied recitative, “Awake, Saturnia” [31],
marked allegro concitato,
she vents her rage, warning the whole universe of the consequences of her wrath.
This recitative, abounding in effective text illustrations,
is one of the most dramatically expansive of all Handel’s recitatives.
After Iris’s description of the formidable monsters that guard the lovers’ retreat [33],
Juno, far from being intimidated, sings an impassioned aria,
“Hence, hence, Iris hence away” [34].
This da capo aria, magnificent its elan, uses the middle section to give Juno a brief respite
at the mention of Somnus, the God of Sleep,
but after that her frenzy returns.

The scene changes to Semele’s palace.
“She is just awakening and rises,” say the stage directions,
which Handel carries out admirably.
Semele begins her song unaccompanied,
as if still half asleep.
“Oh sleep, why dost thou leave me?” [35] is a continuo aria,
rather rare at this stage of dramatic music,
but Handel resorts to it so that
he can altogether concentrate on the singing voice.
Semele does not want to awaken
because that would rob her of her dreamy bliss,
yet while she appears to be
a woman completely absorbed and satiated by sensual pleasure,
we realize that all is not well;
the tragedy is already hinted at, for she senses that her rapture cannot last.
When Jove appears he is greeted with a short recitative:
“Let me not another moment bear the pangs of absence” [36].
Jove answers in a fine aria, “Lay you doubts and fears aside” [37],
but the tone is galant and not quite convincing;
there is something evasive in his protestations that
“though this human form I wear, think not I man’s falsehoods bear,”
adding that “Love and I are one.”
Significantly, this aria is a dance piece, a minuet-saraband,
with a smoothly gliding melody and elegant accompaniment.

The galant song is followed by a rather sober little recitative [38]
in which the god reminds Semele that she, being a mortal,
needs a little rest once in a while.
Semele, now alert, immediately answers Jove’s “Love and I are one”
by contending that “not you alone, but Love and I are one” [39].
The construction of her aria is extraordinary,
for the lilting dance rhythm is in contrast with the coloraturas,
which have a strange urgency about them,
nor is the tonality of D minor a happy one.
The concluding chorus once more pays handsome tribute to the masque;
its text is new, “How engaging, how enduring is a lover’s pain” [40],
but the musical substance is from Semele’s aria.
In the light and graceful choral version
there is even more of the undertone of passion and disquiet
than the same music had when Semele sang it.

Now Semele begins to tempt the fate that will ultimately destroy her [41].
She complains that “I am a mortal, still a woman.”
This disturbs Jove;
“Aiming at immortality [is a] dangerous ambition.”
In an aside he concludes that he must “amuse her, lest she too much explain” [42]
Jove repeatedly sings “apart,”
which in an “oratorio” performance is altogether lost.
The ensuing chorus, Alla hornpipe (“Now Love that everlasting boy invites” [43]),
is love music, delightful in rhythm and in sound,
the garlands of imitations in the orchestra caressing the voices.
Jove decides that Semele needs a playmate;
he will fetch Ino from Bœthia,
so that the two sisters can romp together like happy nymphs in Arcadia [44].
The aria he sings, “Where’er you walk” [45], is indeed Arcadian
(a poem borrowed by the arranger from Pope),
but aside from its bewitching melody, it is an incomparable masterpiece
in the way the vocal and instrumental parts are woven together.
An astonishing feature of this miracle of melody is that
though poetic and pastoral, it is not descriptive—the leaves are lacquered.
The dreamy piece—Largo e pianissimo per tutti, demands Handel—
is a paean of love that became famous all over the world.
Some of the other songs, equally admirable, deserve to be equally well known.

[Lang does not mention it, but next appears a description by Ino of her journey [46].]

The same exquisitely worked texture holds our attention
in Ino’s song “But hark! the heavenly sphere turns round” [47],
in which she relates her adventurous journey
thorough forests populated with dreadful beasts.
The following duet, “Prepare then, ye immortal choir” [48],
still echoes the fairy tale atmosphere;
it is not a dramatic ensemble but one of those chiseled chamber duets
with delicate imitation and magnificently sustained melodic writing.
The concluding fugue is again an astonishing composition—a pastoral fugue!—
which stands nearly alone in the choral literature.
Now the chorus disappears until the end [49],
because the denouement concerns the dramatis personae alone.

---

The introduction to the third act [50] evokes the world of the God of Sleep;
the shadowy arabesques played by the bassoons and basses are wonderfully suggestive.
This is a theatre piece that directly prepares the raising of the curtain.
The spell is broken by Juno’s stern “Somnus awake.”
The sleepy god stirs, singing a slow, trance-like song, “Leave me loathsome light” [52],
which fairly simulates sleep.
Handel’s uncanny skill
in depicting the half-awake drowsiness of Somnus in a beautiful song
fascinates with its combination of the real with the unreal.
Juno, a good psychologist
and well acquainted with the personal foibles of the corps of gods,
offers the lethargic Somnus a nice little nymph, Pasithea,
for his delectation [53].
The response is remarkable.
Somnus is transformed; jumping with joy he breaks into a genuine buffo aria—
but one with an erotic undertone [54].
Juno and Somnus
[first have a recititive [55], then]
sing a duet [56], not a chamber duet but a superbly operatic scene.
Juno is all calm determination as she precisely repeats her demand
and sets the price upon it,
but Somnus only utters Pasithea’s name and is ready to carry out Juno’s wishes.
So the conspiracy to punish Semele by magic gets underway.

The scene changes back to Semele,
and we realize that Jove’s endeavors to keep her occupied
have come to naught.
“My racking thoughts by no kind slumber freed” [57]
is once more a beautifully ornate largo aria,
filled with restlessness and foreboding.
The operatic element is not only all-pervasive by this time,
but obviously rests on traditional Italian principles
entirely missing in the English semi-opera.
As Juno, disguised as Ino, enters Semele’s presence:
“Thus shap'd like Ino” [58].
The old Venetian “bedroom scene” is before us, complete with mirror:
“Behold in this mirror” [59].
Juno’s approach is very smooth and deceiving;
she is both shrewd and contemptuous.
(The asides of both women are meaningless unless the work is acted on the stage.)
Upon her fulsome praise,
Semele picks up the mirror [60] and sings a suavely ravishing coloratura aria,
“Myself I shall adore” [61].
Anticipating immortality, she becomes giddy, declaring that
“no object sure before was half as pleasing”
as what she beholds in the mirror.
The aria is a little long and requires superlative singing and acting skill
[which Rosemary Joshua surely provides!] to bring it off.
Juno, aware that the right moment has come,
tells Semele in a crisply dramatic accompanied recitative [[62], [63]]
the best—and oldest—method
to bring an ardent male to terms.

Semele, grateful for the advice, which she believes to come from her sister,
sings a gently waving siciliana [64], and now the crisis approaches.
(Incidentally, one wonders whether “adieu” [65] was deliberately used
in this affair between gods.)
Jove enters, with rather unseemly haste: “Come to my arms, my lovely fair” [66].
The fine aria is built above a pseudo-ostinato bass,
and Handel withholds the violins until the piece is well under way.
But Semele does not respond and Jove is stunned:
“Oh Semele, why art though insensible?” [67].
Semele is now all woman, sure in instinct, and even surer in timing.
“I ever granting,” [68] is a fine piece, but no longer expansive—
every note counts, and the repetitions (“I always am wanting”) are indeed insistent.
Jove loses all his senses but one and is ready to promise anything,
which he presently does in a powerful accompanied recitative.
The reaction to Semele’s demand for immortality [72] is instantaneous:
Jove forgets all else in consternation.
“Ah! Take heed what you press” [73] is a rushing, impatient, and sternly warning aria;
Handel dispenses with any ritornel but keeps the orchestra in an uproar.
Semele does not yield: “No, no, I’ll take no less!” [74]
She also launches into a fast coloratura aria, skipping the customary recitative.
There is something defiant and determined in this whirlwind piece
in which the voice stops racing
only when the word “oath” is sung on a long-held note.
Yet one must regretfully agree with Winton Dean that here, for a moment,
Handel’s dramatic sense failed him.
At this crucial spot, where one would expect an accompanied recitative,
he permits Semele to recapitulate a long aria verbatim,
after which she leaves abruptly.
Semele is studded with da capo arias,
another sign of the return to opera,
but they are either so placed that they ideally suit their purpose,
or are skillfully manipulated to avoid literal repetition.
Fantastic coloratura can be a very effective dramatic agent,
and Handel was thoroughly adept at using it,
but in such symmetrical application it is a double-edged weapon.

Jove, left alone, upholds the drama.
Now we see a god in an altogether human predicament,
and the frivolous Olympian becomes a grieving mortal;
profoundly moved, he turns flesh and blood in the shadow of onrushing death.
“Ah! Whither is she gone” [75] we may perhaps call an accompanied recitative da capo;
it is example of the remarkable new species we have encountered in Samson,
which straddles recitative, arioso, and aria.
Juno reappears to savor her victory, but even though her music is very good,
this scene [76] can be safely omitted.

Elaborate stage directions preface Semele’s death scene [77],
for it is a struggle to memorialize beauty in the face of death,
to render the stillness of surrender to the fear of death.
It is brief piece, again in the free dramatic arioso-aria style,
but, a pendant to Dido’s lament,
it is one of the memorable moments in all opera.
“Ah me,” sings Semele, “too late I now repent … I feel my life consuming,”
and then the last pitiful unaccompanied words: “I can no more.”
Now the chorus, absent throughout this act, returns [79] with the epodos,
which is one of Handel’s tremendous choral frescoes.
Having witnessed the tragedy, they show their emotions
by their halting singing of a choral arioso, “O horror terror and astonishment” [79],
which is followed by a flowing polyphonic texture ending again in arioso.
The gradual vanishing into pianissimo is carefully indicated by the composer.

Once more we feel that a work has been finished,
that the “Story of Semele” really ends here,
that the anguish and tragic denouement should not be dissipated.
We are little interested in what happens to Arthamas, who finally gets a spouse.
Moreover, it is not without embarrassment that he accepts the consolation prize, Ino [80].
A surprise awaits us.
The customary Hallelujah Chorus, with the trumpets and timpani added,
does appear [85],
but it announces that the offspring of the idyll has been saved from the catastrophe.
[Actually, this is announced by Apollo [84] immediately prior to the final chorus.]
He is none other than Bacchus, and the chorus,
knowing what he will mean to posterity,
jubilates in a fine “prelude and fugue” [85, again].
Indeed this splendid fugue is “free from care, free from sorrow,”
but all this good music is dramatically expandable;
it weakens the somber drama with an enforced happy ending.

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...
[W]hoever arranged the libretto for Handel
took pains to eliminate William Congreve’s
less felicitous and more “suggestive” language.
To quote an an example, in the original text,
Congreve has Jove propose rather impatiently

Say what you require
I’ll grant it—now let us retire.

The final phrase was omitted.