Here is the concluding anthem, I will magnify thee, o God my King, from the oratorio Belshazzar by Händel. Belshazzar, the dissolute, drunken, blaspheming king of Babylon, has been defeated and killed in battle, and the effete Babylonian forces have been put to rout by the invading Persians. Cyrus, the Persian ruler, has put Belshazzar’s mother Nitocris and the Jewish prophet Daniel under his special protection, and the two rulers join the newly liberated Israelites in a hymn of praise to Jehovah. The text appears below. Maureen Lehane is Cyrus, Felicity Palmer is Nitocris, and the Stockholm Chamber Choir are the Israelites, with the Concentus Musicus of Vienna conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, in this extract from a recording of the complete oratorio made in 1975.
(CYRUS)(Maureen Lehane)
I will magnify Thee, o God my King,
And I will praise Thy name forever and ever.
(NITOCRIS)(Felicity Palmer)
My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord.
Then let all flesh give thanks
Unto His holy name forever and ever.
(CYRUS, NITOCRIS, and the ISRAELITES)
Amen.