Composed in 1740, L'Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato is Handel's setting of poetry by John Milton, with additional verses (in the third part of three) by Charles Jennens. This oratorio is a kind of moderated dialogue between two personalities - the merry and carefree, and the thoughtful and ruminative. Jennens added "il Moderato" - the moderate man who balances the other two types. It seems not to have been Handel's intention to instruct listeners as to the most favorable type. Instead, he must have been most attracted by Milton's poetry, and by the opportunity to compose the sort of pastoral entertainment which he had found so congenial in earlier compositions. Sometimes the third part, entirely set to verses by Jennens, is dropped. This was the case even in Handel's time; it was felt that Jennens could not hold a candle to Milton. Some of the work's first recordings (for example, a 1960 version conducted by Sir David Willcocks) do the same, and also rearrange the remaining movements. This new version is given complete, however.
