Alexander’s Feast K.591

In 1736 Handel composed “Alexander’s Feast” or “The Power of Musick”, a two-part cantata based on John Dryden’s poem of the same name.

In 1790, at the suggestion of Baron Gottfried van Swieten, Mozart arranged this workusing a German translation of the poem made by Karl Wilhelm Ramler in 1770. As in other arrangements of Handelian works, Mozart’s re-instrumentation leads to a change in the sound character of the work, placing the composition inthe tradition of the Viennese Classic.