Comus (Handel)

The masque Comus, or There in the Blissful Shades (HWV * 44) is a short version of John Milton's Comus, based on a libretto earlier made by John Dalton for composer Thomas Arne's own Comus. The sixty-year-old Handel composed the setting in 1745 for the pleasure of other guests during his summer recuperation at the country seat of the Earl of Gainsborough.^[1] Some of the music was later recycled by Handel, for example as the tenor aria Then will I Jehovah's praise from the Occasional Oratorio.^[2]

Recordings

• Alceste & Comus, Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood. (L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1989)^[3]
• Handel at Vauxhall Vol. 2, London Early Opera, Bridget Cunningham (Signum Records, 2017)^[4]