The rising sun is a recurring symbol in Handel’s oratorios, commonly associated with hope, renewal, and triumph over darkness. Yet depictions of sunrise in these works are far from uniform, and closer examination reveals that the color of the morning sky has greater significance than has been acknowledged. In Theodora and Samson, “rosy” and “cloudy red” mornings are mentioned ahead of looming crises: Irene, in Theodora (part 1), sings “As with rosy steps the morn” as she and other Christians are about to be persecuted for their faith; and the title character in Samson (act 3) sings “Thus when the sun” before he collapses the temple of the Philistines onto his enemies and himself. Although the positive symbolism of emerging light in these arias has been remarked upon, their equally prominent intimation of imminent suffering has received little scholarly attention. This article argues that the tension between hope and adversity is poetically, theologically, and musically significant, and that the color of dawn is central to its portrayal. The arias are examined in relation to eighteenth-century meteorology as well as depictions of dawn in literary works and Handel’s other oratorios. Because observations of the morning sky were used to forecast weather, a survey of this practice helps clarify the meteorological conditions of different sunrise scenes and their implications as metaphors. This context provides the basis for detailed textual and musical analyses of Irene’s and Samson’s arias, showing how the image of sunrise at the threshold between darkness and light is employed to reflect each character’s psychological conflict.
Minji Kim (Thu,) studied this question.