Composed: 1734
Premiered: 1734, London
Duration: 5 minutes
Handel first composed his opera seria Il pastor fido in 1712 with a premiere at the Queen's Theatre in November of that year. It had not been largely successful, quite possibly due to being outshone by Handel's larger-than-life, spectacular production of Rinaldo. Years later, in 1734, Handel revisited Il pastor fido and composed a complete revision along with a new prologue, Terpsicore. Both had their premiere at the newly built Covent Garden in London.