"Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music" is an ode written by John Dryden. It was written in 1697 in celebration of Saint Cecelia's day. The original ode was set to music by the musician Jeremiah Clarke, but, due to its relative obscurity at the time and the fact that it was created more than four centuries ago, the score is now lost.
The ode, more commonly referred to as a poem, is a historical one. The majority of the poem recounts the feast that Alexander the Great hosts at Persepolis, the Persian capital, in celebration of his defeat of Darius. It also recounts the story of a bard who manipulated Alexander into burning down what he had worked so hard to create. The speaker of this poem moves back and forth through time and recounts details at both of these.
Years after the poem was written, George Frideric Handel crafted a work of song that was based on this ode by Dryden. Handel's work was also entitled "Alexander's Feast." This song was set to a libretto that was created by Newburgh Hamilton for this sole purpose. Dryden's poem has inspired many beautiful musical compositions and performances, and continues to be praised over 300 years after it was first published.
