1807.) 
some partiality, when the idea of mourn- 
ful firmness was to be expressed : witness 
his “Total Eclipse,” in Samson, “ Behold 
and See,” in the Messiah, and the first 
air in this Oratorio, which is in the same 
key to the following words: 
‘¢ Be calm, my soul, nor faint beneath 
Affliction’s galling chains ; 
Whencrown’d with conscious Virtue’s wreath, 
The fhackled captive reigns.” 
The symphony to this airis of that first 
species of the sublime, which arises from 
the employment of all instruments in oc- 
taves or unisons according to Dr. Crotch’s 
classification in his Specimens Just pub- 
lished. 
Joseph then, supposed to be alone in 
prison, continues in the following accom- 
panied recitative : ; 
*¢ But wherefore thus ? whence, Heav’n, these 
bitter bonds ; 
Are these the just rewards of stubborn virtue ? 
Down, down, proud heart, 
Nor blindly question the behest of Heav'n! 
These chastisements are just; for some wise 
end . 
Are all the partial ills allotted Man.” 
The former air is again repeated. 
Phanor, the-name viven to the chief 
butler of Pharoah in this drama, (see Ge- 
nesis xli, 9), then enters and informs 
Joseph of the king’s demand for an inter- 
preter; on which Joseph addresses the 
Almighty in the following fine air in E_ 
flat major, composed for a counter tenor 
voice : 
‘* Come, divine inspirer, come, 
Make my humble breast thy home; 
Draw the curtain from mine eye, 
And present place futurity.” 
Joseph being introduced to Pharoah, 
the Egyptians perform a chorus of invo. 
cation in G minor; of which the coutrast 
between the staccate of the instrumental 
accompaniments and the tenute of the 
vocal parts is well supported: 
“** O God of Joseph, gracious thed 
Thy spirit on thy servant’s head - 
That to the king he may reveal 
The truth’s his mystic dreams conceal.” 
After the interpretation of Phayoah’s 
dream, and the new name of Zaphnath- 
Paaneah, (explained by some, Revealer 
of Secrets, by others, Saviour of the World) 
a spirited chorus in C major occurs, of 
which the cesures and harmonic accents 
are particularly correct: 
** Joyful | sounds! melodious | Strains, 
Health to | Egypt is tke | theme! . 
Zaphnath | rules and Pharvah | reigns» 
Flappy | nation! bliss su | preme |» 
Rentarks on Handel’s Oratorio of Joseph. 
557 
The remainder of the first act is occu- 
pied with the loves of Asenath and Jo- 
seph, the march to the temple, and their 
subsequent nuptials. 
The last air is for a base voice in D 
major accompanied by the trumpet: 
«* Since the race of time began, 
Since the birth-day of the sun 5 
Ne’er was so much wisdom found, 
With such matchless beauty crown’d.”® 
A chorus in continuation of 
subject concludes the act: 
*« Swift our numbers, swifty roll, 
Watt the news from pole to pole ; 
Asenath with Zaphnath’s join’d! 
Jey and peace to all mankind!” 
The second act opens with a chorus in 
E minor of two movements each, cope 
taining two excellent subdivisions which 
the same 
shew the hand of a great master ; 
‘< Hail, thou youth by Heav’n belov’d, 
Now thy wondrous wisdom’s prov’d; 
Zaphnath Egypt’s iate foresaw, 
And snatch’d her trom the tamine’s jaw.” 
After the song by Phanor, “Our fruits, 
while yet in blossom, die, &c.” and the 
chorus, “ Blest be the Man,” &c. which 
follows, must be well known to all who 
have heard it as. introduced by Dr, Are 
noid in Redemption. 
It would require not only more space 
than a periodical publication can admit, 
but also musical examples, to shew the 
merit of Simeon’s soliloquy in prison ; hig 
examination by Joseph; the first inter 
view with Benjamin, and the invita jon to 
the eleven brethren, as taken from Gee 
-Nesis, xiii, 16. But the master-plece 
of this oratorio is the final chorus of the 
second act. Those who remember its 
effect 1 Westminster Abbey, can best 
appreciate its merits, and Mr. Shield has 
recorded its tinal movement in bis Intro« 
duction to Harmony : 
‘*O God! who in thy heav’nly hand 
Dost hold the hearts of mighty kings ; 
O take thy Jacob, ahd his land, 
Beneath the fhadow of thy Wings. 
Thou know’st our wants before our prayer, 
O let us not confounded be; 
Thy tender mercies let us fhare, 
O Lord, we trust alone in thee!” 
The splendor of this divine chorus ra- 
ther throws the last act into a partial ob- 
scurity, yet the air by Asenath; “ Pro- 
phetic raptures,” in D major; the popu- 
lar duet, “ What’s sweeter than the new- 
blown rose ;” together with the various in- 
terspersed recitatives, which develope the 
history of Joseph, are all specimens of the 
composers talents, 
The 
