An examination of Alessandro Stradella’s work Serenata a 3, con Stromenti shows that Handel borrowed from the composer. The opening sinfonia of Stradella’s serenata is reworked into the opening to “Hailstone” in Handel’s Israel in Egypt. Additionally, the subject of the Serenata’s second movement is used in one of the choruses in Joseph and his Brethren, one of Handel’s lesser-known oratorios. Handel employs a theme from the third movement of the Serenata’s sinfonia in the chorus “Him or his God we scorn to fear” from the Occasional Oratorio. The fourth movement of Stradella’s work is uprooted and placed in its entirety into “He Spake the Word” in Israel in Egypt. Finally, Handel adapts the themes from Stradella’s airs for use in Israel in Egypt.

Works: Handel: Israel in Egypt (154-55), Joseph and his Brethren (154), Occasional Oratorio (155).

Sources: Alessandro Stradella: Serenata a 3, con Stromenti (154-55).

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Maria Fokina