The story of the composition of the oratorio L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato is connected with the development of the so-called English oratorio, that had its unobtrusive beginning with the composition of Esther, HWV50, in 1718. For fourteen years Handel wrote no oratorios, returning in 1732 to a form that would mark the musical culmination of his achievement.

The oratorio Esther is not only recognised by musicologists as the first work of its kind, but it is also Handel’s first work in English. The original biblical drama Esther by Jean Racine, written for the pupils of Madame de Maintenon at Saint-Cyr, was known in England through the translation by Thomas Brenton. It formed, with its special mixture of historical, literary and choral elements, the occasion for literary and musical exchanges between Handel and friends, fellow-guests of James Bridge, Earl of Car