George Frederic Haendel SAMSON an oratorio in three movements

The oratorio "Samson“ by George Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) Immediately after the "Messias“, which was created within the 24 days between august, 22. and september, 14. 1741, Händel started to compose "Samson.“ At october, 29. 1741 he finished the last act, which means that those two biggest oratories, the "Messias“ and "Samson,“ came into being within ten successive weeks only. Samson‘s dramaturgical fundament comes from the book "judges“ of the bible. John Milton, England‘s most important baroque poet, has formed his epos "Samson Agonistes“ by following freely the outlines of the bible. Newburgh Hamilton transformed it for Händel‘s oratory. It descibes the betrayal, the remorse and the victory of Samson, the israelean army commander, whose power grew with his hair, as the legend tells us. The work starts one year after the capture and blinding of Samson, when the priests of the pagan god Dagon are celebrating their greatest triumph. In his last struggle Samson, accompained by his father Manoah and his friend Micah, has to stand the temptations of the seductress Dalila and the giant Harapha, which are both followers of god Dagon and his priests. When his strenghs returns, Samson smashes the pillars of Dragon’s temple and buries the enemies and himself under the rubble. Come, come and liter your moaning now, for our hero, Samson, died as Samson. In death and life winner, he gave ruin to our enemies, never ending glory to himself... The Edition What makes the European atmosphere so intense? What defines the European heritage? Where can you find the roots of European culture? Guided by these questions, we document major works of European music in live-recordings at one of the most authentic cisalpean places by our Edition Monastery Maulbronn. I´ve tasted myself physically the perfect accoustical and architectical beauty of this performing place and the exquisite musical staging - which deeply impressed me. An editor cannot but follow his intention to preserve those cultural values for posterity. (Josef Stefan Kindler) The concerts at the Monastery Maulbronn The concerts at the monastery Maulbronn are performed since 1968 and offer in the meantime a programm, which has not only international continuance, but also stands the comparison with bigger stages in the world. The performances take place between may and september in the historical rooms of the monastery (church, layical refectory, cloister garden). There are about 25 concerts annually. We publish a selection of the most beautiful works of religious and secular music by our edition. The monastery Maulbronn The monastery is recognized as the only completely preserved medeaeval complex north of the alps. In 1994 it was admitted to the „Unesco-list of world culture heritage of mankind“ as the 13. building in germany and so finds himself in company with such famous buildings as the Pyramids or the Tadsch Mahal. "The cd-edition is a thunderbolt...“ "The also in the question of sound excellent recording supports an interesting and notable variant on the recordings of Harnoncourt, Gardiner, Marriner and Creed...“ (Dr. Karl-Georg Berg about "Jephtha"/ Die Rheinpfalz)

Back to the 'Samson' CD sales page Visit the Official K&K Verlagsanstalt web site