Chorus of Singers.

William Hogarth

Chorus of Singers.

London, Baldwin Craddock and Joy 1822

Copper engraving

187x164mm.

£220

The engraving shows a rehearsal for the oratorio Judith, written by William Huggins with music by William Defesch. It was performed in February 1732 at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, after a postponement due to the ‘Misconduct and Pretended sickness of Cecilia Young, who had ingaged for the Part of Judith’. The Conductor, whose agitated movements have shaken off his periwig, conducts from a paper inscribed Judith: An Oratorio or Sacred Drama. Sadly the piece was a failure and the manuscript has since been lost. Paulson 127.