CD 1 Act I 1.01 Introduction 1:38 1.02 Ye Sons Of Israel (Chorus) 4:17 1.03 Behold, My Friends (Recitative) 1:11 1.04 O First In Wisdom (Air) 2:45 1.05 Matrons And Virgins (Recitative) 0:28 1.06 Oh! Who Can Tell! (Air) 5:15 1.07 Caleb, Attend To All (Recitative) 0:48 1.08 To Long Posterity We Here (Chorus) 2:25 1.09 So Long The Memory Shall Last (Accompagnato) 0:59 1.10 While Kedron's Brook To Jordan's Stream (Air) 4:44 1.11 But, Who Is He (Recitative) 0:52 1.12 Awful, Pleasing Being (Air) 3:07 1.13 Joshua, I Come Commission'd From On High (Recitative) 0:40 1.14 Leader Of Israel (Accompagnato) 1:17 1.15 To Give Command (Recitative) 0:16 1.16 Haste, Israel Haste (Air) 2:39 1.17 The Lord Commands (Chorus) 2:22 1.18 In These Blest Scenes (Accompagnato) 3:10 1.19 Tis Achsah's Voice (Recitative) - Hail! Lovely Virgin (Accompagnato) 1:01 1.20 Hark! 'Tis The Linnet And The Thrush (Air) 5:55 1.21 O Achsah, Form'd For Ev'ry Chaste Delight (Recitative) 0:57 1.22 Our Limpid Streams With Freedom Flow (Duet) 3:23 1.23 The Trumpet Calls (Recitative) 0:41 1.24 May All The Host Of Heav'n Attend Him Round (Chorus) 1:44 1.25 'Tis Well; Six Times The Lord Hath Been Obey'd (Recitative) 0:29
Act II 1.26 A Solemn March 1:54 1.27 Glory To God (Chorus) 5:45 1.28 The Walls Are Levell'd (Recitative) 0:40 1.29 See, The Raging Flames Arise (Air) 3:25 1.30 To Vanity And Earthly Pride (Air) 4:21 1.31 Let All The Seed Of Abrah'm (Recitative) 0:26 1.32 Almighty Ruler Of The Skies (Recitative) - Thy Mercy Did With Israel Dwell (Chorus) 2:33
CD 2 2.01 Joshua, The Men Dispatch'd By Thee (Recitative) 0:55 2.02 How Soon Our Tow'ring Hopes (Chorus) 3:12 2.03 Whence This Dejection (Recitative) 0:25 2.04 With Redoubled Rage Return (Air, Chorus) 3:22 2.05 Now Give The Army Breath (Recitative) 0:28 2.06 Heroes When With Glory Burning (Air) 4:15 2.07 Indulgent Heav'n Hath Heard My Virgin Pray'r (Recitative) 0:28 2.08 As Cheers The Sun The Tender Flow'r (Air) 2:37 2.09 Sure I'm Deceiv'd, With Sorrow I Behold (Recitative) 1:43 2.10 Nations, Who In Future Story, Would Recorded Be With Glory (Air) 2:42 2.11 Brethren And Friends, What Joy This Scene Imparts (Recitative) 0:54 2.12 Thus Far Our Cause Is Favour'd By The Lord (Recitative) 0:35 2.13 Oh! Thou Bright Orb, Great Ruler Of The Day (Chorus And Joshua) 3:06
Act III 2.14 Hail, Mighty Joshua, Hail (Chorus) 3:54 2.15 Happy, Oh, Trice Happy We (Air) 2:59 2.16 Caleb, For Holy Eleazer Send (Recitative) 2:21 2.17 Shall I In Mamre's Fertile Plain (Air) 2:54 2.18 For All These Mercies We Will Sing (Chorus) 2:25 2.19 O Caleb, Fear'd By Foes (Recitative) 1:21 2.20 Place Danger Around Me (Air) 1:53 2.21 Father Of Mercy (Chorus) 2:53 2.22 In Bloom Of Youth (Recitative) 0:48 2.23 See The Conqu'ring Hero Comes (Chorus) 3:03 2.24 Welcome! My Son, My Othniel (Recitative) 1:04 2.25 Oh! Had I Jubal's Lyre (Air) 2:33 2.26 While Life Shall Last (Recitative) 0:20 2.27 O Peerless Maid, With Beauty Blest (Duet) 3:00 2.28 While Lawless Tyrants (Recitative) 0:40 2.29 The Great Jehovah Is Our Awful Theme (Chorus) 3:11
Germany's K&K label has released a series of live performances of music from various periods,, held at the Maulbronn Monastery complex in the southern German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. This vast group of monastery buildings, a UNESCO heritage site, is manifestly better suited to some kinds of music than to others, but the concerts mostly have had a sense of excitement that the recording engineers have done well in picking up. This performance of Handel's late oratorio Joshua apparently pleased the crowd on-site, but its virtues are less apparent to the CD listener. The chief problem lies with the choral forces of the Maulbronner Kammerchor under conductor Jurgen Budday. It's a good thing that an English text is included (albeit in evil yellow print on blue background), for the choirs' diction is both poor and heavily accented; even native anglophones won't have a prayer of understanding the words of the choruses without the printed text. The climax of the work, the great patriotic chorus "See the conqu'ring hero comes! (CD 2, track 23) is ridiculous, with a treacly quality in the opening youth-chorus section giving way to lumbering Wagnerianisms that hardly deliver the promised historically oriented performance. The four soloists, all English speakers, are better, but the slow pace of the whole makes it hard for them to catch fire. The detailed instrumental work of the Hannoversche Hofkapelle is impressive, and there are fine moments among the solo airs, such as the restrained yet quite arresting "Shall I in Mamre's fertile plain..." from bass James Rutherford as Caleb (CD 2, track 17), but with several strong English versions of this oratorio on the market there's little reason to bother with this one. It's supposed to be a stirring crowd-pleaser, and it just doesn't have that effect here. -- James Manheim
