300 THE MUSICIAN ABOUT TOWN. 
musicians and amateurs were attracted by the novelty of hearing the 
entire oratorio of “‘ Samson,” the first time of its being so per- 
formed for, we believe, more than fifty years. All our readers 
even moderately conversant with musical literature are aware that 
the plot of Handel’s “Samson” comprises the same portion of event 
in the blind hero’s career as that selected by Milton for his magni- 
ficent tragedy, viz. the course of action subsequent to the treachery 
of Dalila, concluding with the destruction of the temple and all the 
assembled Philistine lords; also that a large portion of the words of 
the oratorio were selected from the same drama and other poems of 
Milton, by Dr. Morell, of Chiswick, who also supplied original lines 
of his own, to render it apt for musical representation. It has been 
said that Handel considered this work, and which he composed in 
1742, the year after the Messiah, to be so nearly equal in merit to 
the latter production, that he could not make up his mind which 
should take precedence of the other. With all the diffidence which 
should attend the slightest dissent from such an authority, we are 
constrained to confess that the above opinion (if Handel ever did 
pronounce it) is but another instance of the proverbial incompetence 
of authors to decide upon the comparative excellence of their own 
works ; a decision not unfrequently the consequence of the exertion, 
more or less, which the production has cost them. In one feature 
only do we feel that the Samson is a work of higher classical beauty 
than the Messiah, and that is in its recitatives, which may, perhaps, 
be ranked as the very triumph of Handel’s power in this branch of 
composition, many of them displaying matchless energy and strength 
of character with propriety of expression: and yet we nevertheless 
cannot conceal the fact from ourselves that we could have been con- 
tent with a less abundance and continuity of the recitatives—in 
short, we became wearied with them. This large proportion of di- 
alogue in recitativo imparts a character of monotony to the work, 
from which the scattered airs and concerted movements do not alto- 
gether (at least to our feelings) relieve it. If, however, we turn to 
the other features of the two oratorios, the pre-eminence of the 
Messiah becomes distinct indeed. ‘The airs and duets in the Samson 
distinguished by their merit, are to be quickly enumerated ; whereas 
several of a lower grade, we dare to say, are not merely uninterest- 
ing, but positively tedious. Such a judgment could not be awarded 
even to four out of the numerous perfect sulos which shed their 
lustre over the Messiah. And when we proceed to compare the 
chorusses in the two oratorios, the one last named advances still 
Te 
