ABSTRACT
In the case of the operas and oratorios composed by Handel for performance in London there are good reasons, both aesthetic and practical, for following the composer's performing versions of his works. One way of approaching Handel's regular practice for the instrumentation of the continuo in his London oratorios might be to work forward from what is known of his operatic practice, rather than backward from the Foundling Hospital documentation. It is important to recognize diversions and exceptional cases as such, and this can only be done on the basis of what is known about Handel's regular use of the organ in his English oratorios. In 1977 Winton Dean challenged the practice of delayed recitative cadences in the performance of Handel's operas; a similar revolution is needed if the organ and the harpsichord are to be returned to their aesthetically correct roles in his English oratorios.
