Animal, Vegetable, Mineral

In the 18th century,this composer went from being the leading voice of Italian opera to being a composer of immensely popular oratorios. This work was the first to be set entirely to a biblical text, by someone with whom the composer would later collaborate. The audience wasn't sure what to make of it at first, and the work went through countless revisions throughout the years. This piece features some very colorful writing—particularly when God rains various plagues upon the characters and the music cleverly depicts buzzing locusts and leaping frogs.