George Frideric Handel, Acis and Galatea

Pat Rogers (University of South Florida)

Ed. by Nicholas Seager, University of Keele
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1718

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)
United Kingdom (Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Masque

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Acis and Galatea

(1718) is a masque by George Frideric Handel. It comprised his first major setting of an English text, which was provided by John Gay and his friends (though the authorial responsibility for any given section is uncertain). The work was subsequently described as a serenata, a pastoral, and an oratorio. Earlier in Naples the composer had made another setting for Italian words in

Aci

Galatea e Polifimo

(1708), using the same plot based on Ovid’s

Metamorphoses

, 13: 750–897. It concerns the fate of a Nereid from Sicily, told in her own words to Scylla, after her lover the young shepherd Acis was killed by a rock discharged by the ugly giant Polyphemus, who had himself desired her. The Latin source has Acis turned into a mountain stream, while the masque substitutes a…

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1360 words

Citation: Rogers, Pat. "Acis and Galatea". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 April 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6860, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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