About the work
Aci, Galatea e Polifemo is a serenata (dramatic cantata) for three voices by George Frideric Handel, composed in 1708 during his years in Italy. It was written in Naples for a wedding celebration commissioned by the noblewoman Aurora Sanseverino; the Italian libretto is attributed to Nicola Giuvo. It treats the same subject as Handel's later English masque Acis and Galatea (1718) but is an entirely separate work. The role of Polifemo is famous for the bass aria "Fra l'ombre e gl'orrori", which demands an extreme range of more than two octaves.
Plot
The story derives from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The nymph Galatea and the shepherd Aci are in love. The jealous Cyclops Polifemo desires Galatea and courts her in vain. In his rage he crushes his rival Aci with a boulder. The grief-stricken Galatea uses divine power to transform the slain Aci into a spring, so that he lives on as flowing water — love outlasting death.
Cultural significance
This Neapolitan serenata ranks among the highlights of Handel's Italian apprenticeship, during which he forged his dramatic and vocal style. Its demanding writing — virtuoso coloratura, colourful instrumentation and the vast bass tessitura of Polifemo — keeps it a prized concert and stage rarity. It also documents Handel's engagement with the Italian cantata and opera idiom that would shape his later career as an opera composer in London.