270:
290:, captain of Pharaoh's guard. A good servant, Joseph eventually rose to be the head of the household servants. Potiphar's wife became attracted to Joseph and attempted to seduce him, but he rebuffed her. Because of this, she accused him of making advances on her and he was placed in jail. While in jail, Joseph interpreted the dreams of two of his prison-mates, both servants in Pharaoh's household. One of them Phanor, promised to help free Joseph from prison when he was restored to his position in Pharaoh's household, but forgot and several years pass.
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foretell of 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine and that
Pharaoh should store food during the time of plenty for the time of famine. Meanwhile, Asenath, daughter of the high priest Potiphera, falls in love with the young Joseph. Pharaoh rejoices at Joseph's interpretations, makes him his prime minister to oversee the saving of food, names him "Zaphnath", and offers him Asenath's hand in marriage.
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ago. The brothers plead for their fathers sake—the heartbreak of losing another youngest son would kill him—and Simeon offers himself in
Benjamin's stead. Passing Joseph's test, he reveals himself as their long-lost brother. All sing praises to God and the country of Egypt which Joseph has so gloriously managed and Joseph and his brethren settle in this happy land.
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Act 2 begins a year later, with Simeon still languishing in jail and his fear and guilt over having betrayed Joseph racking his brain. Joseph plays into the dramatic irony and manipulates Simeon to feel guilt for having abandoned Joseph. When his brothers return with
Benjamin, they state their case
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In act 3, Joseph has the
Egyptian guards catch up to and seize the brothers, bring them back, and accuses them of stealing the cup. Playing the guilt and drama to the hilt, he demands to keep Benjamin as a prisoner to test the brothers if they will abandon Benjamin as they did him all those years
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chapters 38–45. The libretto is hard to read without background context because the audience of Handel's oratorios was very familiar with the stories of the Hebrew Bible and would have known the whole story of Joseph as part of their cultural knowledge. Taking advantage of this, Miller tells the
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Act 1 opens with Joseph lamenting his lot in life, abandoned, in prison. Pharaoh has been troubled by dreams which no one can interpret for him, and Phanor remembers Joseph and fetches him. Joseph comes before
Pharaoh and, calling on Jehovah, interprets Pharaoh's dreams: He says that the dreams
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Now, before act 2 begins, more biblical story needs to be inserted: After Joseph saves wisely during the seven years of plenty, the famine begins. Because Egypt is now well-positioned for food, people from afar come to purchase grain to replace their own failing crops. Among these are Joseph's
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brothers, who do not recognize him (although he recognizes them). He accuses them of being spies and orders them to leave one of them, Simeon, here in jail while they go home and return with their youngest brother
Benjamin (who did not come the first time).
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loved Joseph best of all of them, seize him and sell him into slavery, telling their father that he has been eaten by wild beasts. The slave traders took Joseph to Egypt, where he became a servant in the house of
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again for the plight of their homeland in Canaan and he sells them grain and sends them on their way. Not mentioned in the libretto, Joseph arranges to have a silver cup of his hidden in
Benjamin's things.
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story in poetical form, leaving out events and background information which give it a fragmentary feel if read straight through.
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The story (but not the oratorio) begins when Joseph's eleven brothers, jealous that their father
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Chorus of
Egyptians, Chorus of the Brethren, Chorus of Hebrews
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Phanor, Chief Butler to
Pharaoh, afterwards Joseph's Steward
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2019. Diana Moore (Joseph), Sherezade
Panthaki (Asenath),
87:. It received its premiere performance that following
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Agrippina condotta a morire or Dunque sarĂ pur vero
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27:. For Joseph and His Brethren: A Pageant Play, see
273:A picture of the theatre at Covent Garden where
257:The libretto is based on the Biblical story of
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8:
477:
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441:International Music Score Library Project
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1861:Cultural depictions of Joseph (Genesis)
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16:1744 oratorio by George Frideric Handel
1003:L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
939:Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno
326:. CD Philharmonia Baroque Cat: PBP11
105:Roles, voice types, and premiere cast
7:
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21:The Story of Joseph and His Brethren
1846:Oratorios by George Frideric Handel
1677:Keyboard suite in D minor (HWV 437)
943:Il trionfo del Tempo e della VeritĂ
67:is composed to an English language
1168:Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne
14:
1333:Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline
79:'s Italian language libretto for
63:completed in the summer of 1743.
23:. For the Thomas Mann novel, see
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1809:
1799:
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1354:Wedding anthem for Princess Anne
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1775:Handel & Hendrix in London
320:Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
91:season on 2 March 1744 at the
1:
1448:Music for the Royal Fireworks
947:The Triumph of Time and Truth
374:"G. F. Handel's Compositions"
216:, Daughter to the High Priest
1856:Oratorios based on the Bible
1379:Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate
1263:Tra le fiamme (Il consiglio)
518:Handel's lost Hamburg operas
200:Potiphera, High Priest of On
117:Premiere cast, 2 March 1744
187:Benjamin, Brother to Joseph
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18:
1793:
1693:Handel Reference Database
1671:The Harmonious Blacksmith
1361:Foundling Hospital Anthem
1249:O lucenti, o sereni occhi
1182:Ode For St. Cecilia's Day
492:
245:
161:Simeon, Brother to Joseph
150:Reuben, Brother to Joseph
1708:Hallische Händel-Ausgabe
1698:Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis
1686:Catalogs and collections
176:Judah, Brother to Joseph
1207:Allor ch'io dissi addio
1161:Aci, Galatea e Polifemo
1066:Joseph and his Brethren
435:Joseph and His Brethren
347:Joseph and his Brethren
275:Joseph and his Brethren
25:Joseph and His Brothers
19:For the 1960 film, see
1633:Concerti grossi, Op. 6
1628:Concerti grossi, Op. 3
1623:Organ concertos, Op. 7
1618:Organ concertos, Op. 4
1393:Queen Caroline Te Deum
1136:The Choice of Hercules
486:George Frideric Handel
376:. The Handel Institute
322:and Chorus, conductor
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122:Pharaoh, King of Egypt
61:George Frideric Handel
43:
41:George Frideric Handel
1221:Clori, Tirsi e Fileno
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93:Covent Garden Theatre
39:
1755:Letters and writings
1228:Dalla guerra amorosa
889:Va tacito e nascosto
882:Svegliatevi nel core
502:List of compositions
1750:British citizenship
1703:Händel-Gesellschaft
1427:Oboe Concerto No. 2
1422:Oboe Concerto No. 1
1417:Oboe Concerto No. 3
1087:Occasional Oratorio
868:Lascia ch'io pianga
429:Stanford University
345:"Program notes for
277:was first performed
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1280:Latin church music
1270:Un'alma innamorata
1235:Del bell'idolo mio
1214:Aure soavi e lieti
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44:
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1765:Handel at Cannons
1436:Orchestral suites
1386:Dettingen Te Deum
1319:As Pants the Hart
1175:Alexander's Feast
822:Alessandro Severo
759:Parnasso in festa
425:Miller's libretto
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195:Samuel Champness
99:Dramatis personae
83:, an oratorio by
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1743:Related articles
1400:Chandos Jubilate
1326:Zadok the Priest
1153:Odes and masques
1094:Judas Maccabaeus
899:Incidental music
752:Arianna in Creta
703:Lotario (Handel)
598:Acis and Galatea
591:Amadigi di Gaula
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439:: Scores at the
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225:Élisabeth Duparc
156:Thomas Reinhold
145:Daniel Sullivan
137:Joseph, a Hebrew
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141:countertenor
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73:James Miller
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1481:Fitzwilliam
1443:Water Music
1037:Der Messias
191:boy soprano
182:John Beard
75:, based on
1840:Categories
1080:Belshazzar
668:Alessandro
619:Floridante
427:hosted at
405:23 January
380:27 January
358:28 January
330:References
170:John Beard
114:Voice type
55:59) is an
1724:Göttingen
1717:Festivals
1650:Germanico
1371:Canticles
1016:Structure
931:Oratorios
815:Faramondo
773:Ariodante
710:Partenope
654:Rodelinda
647:Tamerlano
605:Radamisto
551:Agrippina
310:Recording
261:found in
235:contralto
1804:Category
1192:Cantatas
1129:Theodora
1073:Hercules
1031:Part III
850:Deidamia
808:Berenice
801:Giustino
787:Atalanta
661:Scipione
523:Florindo
437:, HWV 59
288:Potiphar
253:Synopsis
208:unknown
81:Giuseppe
69:libretto
57:oratorio
1866:Asenath
1815:Commons
1468:sonatas
1466:XV solo
1311:Anthems
1143:Jephtha
1122:Solomon
1115:Susanna
1026:Part II
1010:Messiah
982:Athalia
975:Deborah
921:Alceste
794:Arminio
745:Orlando
731:Sosarme
696:Tolomeo
558:Rinaldo
544:Rodrigo
263:Genesis
220:soprano
214:Asenath
1734:London
1664:Gideon
1292:Gloria
1101:Joshua
1059:Semele
1052:Samson
1021:Part I
968:Esther
843:Imeneo
780:Alcina
766:Oreste
738:Catone
675:Admeto
633:Flavio
626:Ottone
537:Almira
529:Daphne
511:Operas
259:Joseph
89:Lenten
65:Joseph
48:Joseph
1825:Audio
1729:Halle
1657:Nabal
1642:Other
1458:Flute
914:Comus
829:Serse
689:Siroe
584:Silla
577:Teseo
283:Jacob
179:tenor
165:tenor
1760:Will
1611:Opus
1547:367b
1542:367a
1527:364b
1522:364a
1517:363b
1512:363a
1492:359b
1487:359a
1464:and
1462:solo
989:Saul
724:Ezio
717:Poro
407:2020
382:2018
360:2018
204:alto
153:bass
126:bass
111:Role
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
