George Frideric Handel´s „Judas Maccabaeus“

Musicologists Dominik Höink and Jürgen Heidrich analyze „Judas Maccabaeus“ from the perspective of different scientific disciplines such as musicology, theology, history as well as English and Jewish studies. George Frideric Handel’s "Judas Maccabaeus" is one of the most significant English oratorios of the 18th century. Taking up a topos used in England since the 16th century identifying the British with the biblical people of Israel, Handel composed a number of biblical oratorios reflecting the political situation at the time.

Through its association with the Duke of Cumberland, the Jacobite Rising or the struggle for cultural identity, "Judas Maccabaeus" is charged with political significance and thus a perfect example of the entanglements between religion and politics as depicted in oratorios. The authors examine the work from the perspective of their respective disciplines (musicology, theology, history, English studies and Jewish studies), from its textual source and the composition of the work to its reception in the 20th century. Detailed studies examine the literary and musical adaptation of the underlying theme of violence and war including the theological and political implications and its reception.

Literature: Höink, Dominik, and Jürgen Heidrich (eds.), Gewalt – Bedrohung – Krieg. Georg Friedrich Händels Judas Maccabaeus. Interdisziplinäre Studien, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2010 (with contributions from Johannes Schnocks, Iris Fleßenkämper, Gabriele Müller-Oberhäuser, and Dominik Höink).