L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato marks another important stage in the development of the English oratorio. The first two parts intermingle the cheerful and the thoughtful of Milton’s two poems, which seek to banish melancholy by extolling the delights of country life and the cities (L’Allegro) and the pleasures of the mind (Il Penseroso). In the third part, by Handel’s friend Charles Jennens, the Moderate Man seeks to reconcile the merits of the two opposite but finally complementary characters. The music is breath-taking, the arias and ensembles full of exhilarating Italianate melodies, while the choruses, the new special element of oratorio, are composed in such a way that they could also be performed by talented amateurs.