George Frederic Handel - The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba

George Fredric Handel (1685 - 1759), born in Halle Germany, was a cosmopolitan composer and impresario and was internationally famous in his own lifetime, much of which lived in London. Here he developed the Oratorio as an English language alternative to Italian Opera. This well known piece comes from his oratorio 'Solomon' of 1749 and was originally composed for winds, so this quintet arrangement is somewhat faithful to the original.