Handel: Dixit Dominus, HWV 232

Description

Handel wrote the famous "Dixit Dominus" with the text of Psalm 109 during his time in Italy in c. 1707. Although he was only 22 years old, the work already demonstrates his wide spectrum of compositional abilities which are later fully realized in his operas and oratorios. Central to this work are the six choral movements, which – with their polyphonic structure – are closely related to German choral music of the 17th century.

This newly revised Urtext performing edition offers a thorough revision of this frequently-performed work and meets all the requisites of a scholarly-critical edition. Former readings in the old edition regarding a small number of pitches, but mostly basso continuo figures and the underlying text have now been able to be amended on the basis of the new findings. in the new edition the work appears in nine movements – no longer eight – which reflects the composer's intentions. The new performance material is not compatible with the old one.