Note 314 — HIS TECHNIQUE AND WORKS

Handel has found a musical language passing by imperceptible steps from recitativo secco, almost spoken, to recitativo accompagnato, then to the air. In Scipione (1726) the phrases of the accompanied recitative are enshrined in small frameworks of spoken recitative (see p. 23 of the Complete Handel Edition, the air, Oh sventurati). The final air in the first act is a compromise between speech and song. The accompanied recitative runs naturally into the air.